'Spitfire' Nasturtiums Are Still Going Strong!

Well, who would have thought that the nasturtiums would look somewhat better in October than they did in September? But who would have thought that August and September would be as hot and dry as they were either? The ability of plants to cope in various extreme conditions is one of the wonders of life in the gardening world.

'Spitfire' is chugging right along, still blooming, if not growing taller by much. I expect it to continue until we have a hard freeze. We've yet to experience the first frost of the season, although it was predicted last night. It's on tap for tonight, too, and it just might happen this time. We'll see how things fare in the garden.

The nasturtiums are somewhat protected by a native white mulberry overhead, although it doesn't have any branches lower than 6-7 feet above ground level. I keep it trimmed so that things on the south side receive mostly full sun throughout the day, but it still should help keep some heat around the plants beneath its branches.

I wonder what I'll have to report when the first of November gets here...

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Planted (direct sow): April 18
First bloom: June 12
Days to bloom: 55

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project.

Thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Seed GROW Project - September

About this time of the year, I want to chuck it all in the garden. Give up watering and tear out the uglies. We've had an especially hot and dry summer and even though it's cooled down in the last couple of days, the lack of rain has really taken its toll.  I've tried to keep things watered, just to help them make it through, but I can see that in spite of my best efforts, I will lose a few things.

The nasturtiums that we're growing as a part of the Seed GROW Project are hanging in there and I can honestly say hanging now! They finally grew to a length that officially means they've lived up to the title of "Climbing Nasturtium."

Because of the hot and dry weather - and in spite of my best watering efforts - the plants have had their lower leaves dry to a crisp.  However, they're still blooming at the top! 

I wonder what they'll do as autumn cools things down.  The rest of the garden will breathe a sigh of relief, if it's still breathing at all. The gardener will, too.

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Planted (direct sow): April 18
First bloom: June 12
Days to bloom: 55

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project.

Thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

A Nasturtium Grows in Ohio

It's time for the August update for the 'Spitfire' nasturtiums I'm growing along with other gardeners across the country for the GROW Project.  From looking at many participating gardeners' results so far, it would seem that I'm having a similar experience as most of the others.

I'm very impressed with Christina Salwitz's nasturtiums. No wonder she's the Personal Gardening Coach! I'm also a little envious, because my nasturtiums don't look like hers.

They got off to a great start, and they've been blooming just fine, but they've yet to "climb" or vine in any way. I thought they'd be at least halfway up the teepee trellis I made for them by now.

They're still exhibiting variations in bloom color. Some are lighter, but I prefer the darker.

I like 'Spitfire' but I was hoping they'd climb more than they have. I might grow them next year and have them vine down instead of having them try to climb up.

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Planted (direct sow): April 18
First bloom: June 12
Days to bloom: 55

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project.

Thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Seed GROW Project: July Update

I expected my Nasturtium 'Spitfire' to be climbing much higher up the homemade teepee trellis I'd constructed for them by now.  The plants seem to be fairly healthy, with no real insect problems or disease that I can tell, but they are no taller than any other nasturtiums I've grown in the past.  At least not yet anyway. We've had warm temperatures with plenty of rain - but not too much rain - and the rest of the garden has become a jungle.

Nasturtiums don't benefit from fertilizer as far as blooming is concerned, so while feeding them might make the plants larger (i.e. climb higher), it would diminish the blooms, so no fertilizer or compost has been applied.

Other than not really climbing yet, I've made a couple of other observations:

• Typical of previous nasturtiums I've grown, many of the lower leaves have turned yellow and gotten brown and crispy.  It's not to excess, but every year I've grown these plants, I get this, so at least for me, it's not out of the ordinary.
  
  
• I'm seeing seed formation already, which surprises me. First blooms were three weeks ago, so I guess it's not too early for that, but it seems like it.  But then the cicadas started singing two weeks ago, and that's early for them, too.
  
  
  
  Nasturtium seed pods
  
  
• I've not noticed aphids hanging out on these, which is saying something, because I don't think I've ever grown nasturtiums that didn't have aphids at some point.  It was usually black aphids. I have noticed a little bit of leaf miner activity though.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• One of the plants has lighter colored blooms than the rest.  I prefer the darker color, which I think is the color they're supposed to be, but the lighter color is still pretty.  The veining shows up a little better in the lighter ones.

 One plant has lighter colored blooms than the others.

Both colors of blooms have that fringy detail that I love to photograph up close and personal:

Lighter color

Darker color

I will save some seeds from these, just to see what grows from them, colorwise.  I'll keep the seeds from the lighter colored blooms separate from the darker ones and see what their offspring look like.  I had many volunteers this year from pink Wave petunias that were in my front porch flower boxes last year and what I got from those is very interesting.  (Future blog post about that!)

Planted (direct sow): April 18
First bloom: June 12
Days to bloom: 55

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project.

Thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Seed GROW Project Update: First Blooms!

I noticed the buds of the Nasturtiums were tinged with color last night as I walked through the garden after work and knew with a little sun to warm them, they'd likely be in bloom today.  Sure enough!

Tropaeolum majus 'Spitfire'

The color is so vibrant, you notice them right away, even from a distance.  I'm in love with this plant, with its reddish-orange  blooms.

I'm not generally a fan of orange flowers - it just depends on what it is - but these have enough red in them that I wouldn't really consider them to be orange flowers.  One that I do love is Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), which just happens to be next to this Nasturtium 'Spitfire.'  They blend beautifully.

'Spitfire' currently has two fully-opened blooms with several more buds.  The plants are also tall enough now for me to start guiding them to climb the teepee trellis I made.  If we continue getting the rain we have been and the warm temperatures, these plants will be covering the trellis in no time!

Planted (direct sow): April 18
First bloom: June 12
Days to bloom: 55

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project.

Thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Seed GROW Project - Not Yet a Climber

Here we are, two months after planting Nasturtium ‘Spitfire’ for the Seed GROW Project. I’ve pretty much ignored these things since planting them. No, let me correct that. I've ignored them completely.

The weather for the month of May was out of the ordinary, with us having more than two inches above normal rainfall. When I wasn’t working at my regular job, it was raining. When it wasn’t raining, I was working, and during the bit parts of dry weather where I was able to get in the garden, I was rushing to get other things done.

So here we are at the beginning of June and the Nasturtiums are doing fine, although I’d expected them to have reached the first level of fishing line I’d strung on the teepee for it to climb upon. There are some yellow leaves, but I imagine that’s due to the excessive rain.

Maybe I’ll have some blooms to show by the first of next month.

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project,

thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Seed GROW Project - Nasturtiums Are Go!

Since spring decided to really and truly come early this year, my planting of annual seeds in the garden was able to get an early start, too. For the Seed GROW Project, I finally decided how I wanted to grow my Nasturtium 'Spitfire' seeds.

Our neighbor pruned some rather large branches from his pear tree, and when I saw them laying in a pile by the burning pit, I asked him if I could use them for a trellis in my garden.  He had planned to cut them smaller and burn them, so he said for me to take what I wanted.

Romie pruned all the smaller branches off and evened up the lengths so I could make a trellis for the nasturtiums.  It was simple - I just pushed the larger end into the soft ground, brought them together at the top, and secured it with twine.  Then I took fishing line and wound it around the legs of the tripod trellis all the way to the top, to give the nasturtiums an invisible support as they grow.

I placed some rocks we found in an adjacent farm field to put around the base of the tripod for more support. The neighbor who farms the ground is more than happy for us to take the rocks, since they are really hard on equipment.  It's a win-win!

On April 18th, I planted the seeds all around the trellis, which is in full sun, and watered them well. Germination is supposed to be 9-12 days, but since I planted them early, I wasn't sure how that might go. Mom and I left early on Friday morning (April 30th) for a weekend trip to the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan, so I hadn't looked at the planting site since the night before (11 days). Nothing was showing yet then.

But when we returned...

 Nasturtium 'Spitfire' seedlings (decorated with annoying white mulberry catkins)

I have to assume that the extremely warm temperatures, coupled with the rain, made these shoot up shortly after we left, due to their size.  They're off and growing!

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project,

thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."

Decisions, Decisions...

Today officially begins the Seed GROW Project, the trialing of 'Spitfire' Climbing Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), grown by seed from Renee's Garden.  Forty-four gardeners around the country are growing the same plant and comparing our results.  Though I received my seed about a month ago, I have yet to decide just how I'm going to grow it.

It's a little too early to plant it directly outside, since it needs to be planted after all danger of frost is past.  In our area, that's Mother's Day or a little after.  Last year, we had frost the third week in May!  Of course, I could start them early inside, but it's a little early for that, too, according to the packet, which advises to start inside three weeks before last frost.

I don't know if I'll put it on an existing obelisk, to grow with the Clematis there.  The Clematis isn't very well established, so this might look great with it, except that the Clematis is two shades of pink and 'Spitfire' is scarlet red.

I could also grow it with the white Clematis on the directional.  Now that I could see.

I could grow it in the EarthBox.  Bet it would go nuts in that.

I could grow it on a pyramidal bamboo trellis I've got.  Except that's falling apart and I don't know if I can salvage it for one more year.

I could grow it in a hanging pot.

I could grow it in a pot.
I could grow it in a plot.

I could grow it on a pole.
I could grow it in a hole.

I could grow it in a box.
I could grow it with some Phlox.

I could grow it in a basket.
Where should I grow it?
I think I'll ask it...

Dr. Seuss worked for me.

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"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project,

thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds." 

Images courtesy of Renee's Garden

Garden Bloggers GROW

I'm excited to be participating in a project spearheaded by fellow garden bloggers MrBrownThumb and Colleen Vanderlinden of In the Garden Online, and sponsored by Renee's Garden seed company.  Garden Bloggers GROW will bring 50 home gardeners across the country together in a unified goal of growing the same plant from seed, and reporting once a month on our progress, whether that be success or failure or something in between.

Since we all have different growing conditions and are located in various USDA zones - Zone 5b here - comparing our results will be a fun and fascinating exercise.  No doubt it will be a learning experience for those of us that are planting the seeds and for those of you who choose to follow along.

So what will we be growing? 

Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee's Garden, will be providing the participants with a packet of 'Spitfire' Climbing Nasturtium seeds for planting. We'll be documenting our progress from planting to blooming, posting on our blogs on the first Sunday of each month, starting from the time we receive our seeds.  Of course,  this means not everyone will be planting their seeds at the same time. Some may choose to start them early inside, while others may wait until they can direct sow them outside.

For more information, visit Garden Bloggers GROW, and follow along as we grow together!


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*Images courtesy of Renee's Garden and grow.gardenbloggers.com

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds."