Tabletop nasturtiums

Nasturtiums might be the perfect plant - cheap, easy to grow, floriferous, good for cutting, edible (both flowers and pretty leaves) and happy in terrible soil. And now there are loads of different varieties as well as the paintbox red, yellow and orange ones I used to plant as a child. Chiltern Seeds have a good selection - I especially like their coral-coloured ‘Salmon Baby’ variety and this year have high hopes for ‘Peach Melba’ and ‘Purple Emperor’.

In fact loads of nasturtiums self-seeded from last year’s crop and have been popping up in the dahlia bed, where I purposely planted them last year. This year I’m digging them up because the dahlia bed is well fertilised and the result of that at the end of last season was giant nasturtiums that were all leaf and no flower.

But rather than get rid of the seedlings, I thought I’d pot them up into little terracotta pots and I’m so glad I did. They’ve grown into lovely little bonsai-esque tabletop plants that last longer than vases of cut stems but bring the flowers up close in the same way. I’m always looking for table centres for our wine bar and these are so perfect for the courtyard garden tables.

Yay nasturtiums. They hardly ever disappoint.