Nasturiums

When is the best time to plant nasturiums? My mother in Tucson has nasturiums blooming in January. If I plant them in November in zone 7b ( coastal Carolina) will they bloom in January? Should I start them indoors or can I plant them directly in the ground?

Nasturtiums are very picky as to the roots... They highly resent transplanting!

Soak the seeds overnight in warm water in a clean jar with a lid on top. The sowing depth should be a deep as 1 inch (the size equals my first index finger up to the first joint) so I just poke a whole up to that measurement and drop the seed in. Cover and water again. Remember to sow when it's cool outside; as they are fellow members of the pea family. They also like manure.

Mine loved the heat but were always thirsty as seedlings. Depending on the variety, they can grow as long as 5-6 feet long. I'm going to put them back into hanging baskets though because slugs love them too. They taste very yummy, like pepper/mustard greens. They can hang drooping down or trellis upwards.

HTH,

~* Robin

Thanks, Robin. I wonder if deer like to eat them? The deer pulled up my pansies by the roots last year. I would wake up in the morning to see pansy roots on my front sidewalk minus their leaves and blossoms.

Deer Resistant Perennials and Flowering Shrubs

* Amaryllis belladona-Naked Lady lilly. Showy umbellate flowers; fragrant, pink/rose flower clusters; rather short lived.

* Artemesia-Sagebrush, Wormwood. Great barrier to interplant as protection; gray-green; lacy leaves.

* Callistemon-Bottlebrush. Shrub to small tree; red flowers which hummingbirds love.

* Chrysanthemums-Feverfew. Masses of white or yellow centered button daisies; spreads freely; do not plant if you want bees to pollinate flowers.

* Marguerite-Use white varieties only. Single daisies or double mum flowers.

* Shasta Daisy-Big and beautiful; single and double; good barrier plant which multiplies.

* Cistus-Rockrose. Pink or white; fragrant with sun; used in the perfume industry.

* Digitalis-Foxglove. Very striking spikes, speckled white to lavender bell-shaped blossoms.

* Echium-Pride of Madera. Huge, spreading silver foliage; blue to lavender spires.

Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance: http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/default.asp scroll down the very long page to view them all. It says: Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, Seldom Severely Damaged, Type: Annual

I'll tell ya; at the last week in October, they got the last of my tomatoes (branches and all) of the patio hybrid; _all_ of my luffa gourds around the back of the house, plus the tiny bottle gourds up front, the borage, sweet bell peppers, a few jalapeno (fruits & plant), canary vine creeper and who knows what else this year. I'm in their migration path I think.

I had to call the township to remove the body of a tiny one that didn't make it across the road with it's mother, it was no bigger than a large dog; like a Great Dane. I pulled it out of the way by hand, of the lane going to town. It was knocked into by 3 cars before I got to see what it was. I had been outside doing garden chores when I heard what I thought was someone ploughing into my mailbox again. What a shame on them, never even stopping to see what it was that they hit. Could've been someone's dog.

HTH,

~* Robin

Edited for spelling.

This message was edited Nov 7, 2005 10:55 PM

Thanks, Robin for the information about deer resistant plants! I just ordered a bunch of nasturium seeds and will plant them according to your directions. Wish me luck!

I still pause with awe when I see deer standing by the side of the road or bounding across a field when I am walking my dog. I think they are beautiful animals and am very sad to see one hit by a car. They seem to feed on my garden at night. They have taken bites out of my tomatoes but I guess they haven't gotten hungry enough yet to eat the whole plants. You must have some very hungry deer up there in New York for them to eat luffa gourds and jalepenos! WOW!