Key Features
- Produces attractive green foliage with colorful flowers that complement the rounded leaves.
- Easy-growing annual with compact, trailing, or climbing growth depending on variety.
- Ideal for containers, hanging baskets, borders, cottage gardens, and trellises.
- Performs best in full sun to partial shade with well-drained soil.
- Rounded foliage adds distinctive texture and visual interest to garden displays.
Growing Benefits
- Adds lush green foliage and seasonal color to garden spaces.
- Trailing growth makes it useful for hanging baskets and containers.
- Climbing types can add vertical interest when given suitable support.
- Helps attract bees, butterflies, and other visiting pollinators.
- Straightforward to grow from seed, making it suitable for beginner gardeners.
Seed Specifications
- Common Name: Nasturtium
- Botanical Name: Tropaeolum majus
- Plant Type: Annual flowering plant
- Colors: Green foliage with flower colors varying by variety
- Height: Approximately twelve to eighteen inches; trailing types may spread several feet
- Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil: Well-drained, moderately fertile soil
- Water: Moderate; allow the soil surface to dry slightly between waterings
- Germination Time: Approximately seven to fourteen days under favorable conditions
- Sowing Depth: Approximately one-half to one inch
- Spacing: Approximately eight to twelve inches
- Growing Zones: Grown as an annual in most climates; perennial in frost-free regions
- Flowering/Maturity: Generally flowers from late spring through fall, depending on climate and planting time
- Uses: Containers, hanging baskets, borders, cottage gardens, trellises, and ornamental beds
Growing Tips
- Soak seeds in water for several hours before planting to help soften the seed coat.
- Sow directly in loose, well-drained soil after the danger of frost has passed.
- Avoid overly rich soil and heavy fertilizing, which can encourage foliage instead of flowers.
- Provide a trellis or other support if growing a climbing type.
Seed Storage
Store unused seeds in a cool, dry, dark location. Keep them in their original packet or an airtight container protected from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight.
Unique Facts About Seeds
- Nasturtium is scientifically known as Tropaeolum majus and belongs to the Tropaeolaceae family.
- Its rounded leaves have a distinctive shield-like appearance and are often held on long leaf stalks.
- Nasturtium plants can have compact, trailing, or climbing growth depending on the variety.
- The colorful flowers have a distinctive long nectar spur extending behind each bloom.