Tropaeolum brachyceras - first blooms

Many DGardeners will be sowing this species this Autumn from seeds they acquired either from the Garden Angel Fund or from trades.

This plant is a 'volunteer' - meaning the seed was in the soil I purchased for my pots - and is growing in the same pot with a lovely double white Fuchsia Cristina (from Temuco, Chile) gave me last May. Since these Tropaeolums develop a very tiny tuber, and the whole plant is not invasive, it does not endanger the growth of the Fuchsia.



This message was edited Oct 4, 2004 1:54 PM

For this picture I put my hand in the back so you can have a better idea of how tiny these flowers are.



This message was edited Oct 4, 2004 1:54 PM

This last picture shows another 'volunteer' in it's own pot, again with my hand in the back, so you can have a better idea of the plant's size.

Don't they look like lace?

In case you are sowing these seeds and lost the recommendations I supplied, here they are:

· Tropaeolum brachyceras, lovely climber with yellow flowers, produces a tuber. Climbes up to 2 m. Blooms from late winter to mid spring. Require well-drained slightly humid soil, neutral pH, high luminosity and full sun. Also requires support to climb. Will bloom the second year if grown from seed.
Propagate from seeds in autumn (stratify) in a mix of: 1 portion compost, ½ portion regular garden soil and 1/3 sand. They will germinate January /February (in the northern hemisphere) and should not be transplanted before one year, after they have lost their foliage and have formed a tuber.

Tropaeolum tricolor plants look almost exactly like T. brachyceras.

Very nice plants... I tried growing them from seeds, but they never got beyond the seedling stage for me, too hot here I guess:-(

Indigo, T. brachyceras are native to a 9b zone - why should they not make it in 9a?