Saturday, January 30, 2010

Dreaming of Summer

On a dark and chilly Yukon morning, I'm inspired by thoughts of summer blooms.

Click on the image to see this lovely nasturtium in full detail. This bloom is a bit different from the traditional yellow, orange and red variety. It is from the whirlybird series that do not have the usual spur. They come in delicious colours ranging from creamy buttermilk to peach in semi-double flowers. Whirlybird blossoms hold themselves high above thick green foilage. An added bonus is that the young leaves and blossom petals provide a delightful summer salad garnish, offering a very peppery taste.

Here are a couple of sources for the seeds:



You might also check out Vesey's for a really interesting color combination called Strawberry Cream.


Enjoy!

18 comments:

  1. Those Nasturtiums are beautiful... Their colors reminds me of peaches (and what is more 'summer' than a juicy peach?)

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  2. What pretty blooms Hank!Everything here is frozen up also and we need all of those sunny blooms to tempt us into thoughts of summer gardens. Since we cannot see them growing now the pictures are so welcome.

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  3. I love the colors of that nasturium.

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  4. Nasturtiums grow so beautifully for us here in Alaska. From your pic, sounds like they do in the Yukon, too. What variety is that? I've been looking for something other than the usual orange or yellow....

    Christine B.

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  5. Dear Hank, I was drawn to your posting of today on account of the very alluring title. I was not disappointed.

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  6. @Christine, yes, nasturtiums do really well here. This nasturtium is from the Whirlybird variety. I'll include a description and sources in the post. Thanks for stopping by taking the time to comment. Hank

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  7. This one will have to go on my list for next season, Hank. That photo is gorgeous!

    I really discovered nasturtiums only this year. I'd seen them before, but never appreciated them in my own garden, and it's just not the same. :) Here, they do terribly in the summer, almost fading away to nothing in August, and then become the stars of late summer and fall.

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  8. Spectacular photo Hank, I am also dreaming of summer. ~Rebecca

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  9. Lovely nasturtium, Hank. My favourite story about these lovely flowers is how my father planted them when I was a kid. He put a load of well rotted manure into the new bed he dug at our newish house in St. John's, Nfld, then he planted nasturtiums. Dwarf nasturtiums. Which stretched out ten feet across the lawn, some with leaves big as dinner plates, and flowers until frost. Just remembering that story when I saw your photo made me smile. Now I'll have to plant some this spring for sure.

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  10. Hank ... I did click and find your image of soft science simply dreamy! Lovely quote and a most unusual bloom. I love Nasturtium ... but could never eat them as so many do... too lovely in the garden. Well that is not completely true as I have been known to pick a few blooms with greens and toss them in a salad. They add such a beautiful touch and then can be eaten too. Thanks so for the links!

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  11. @Jodi, thanks for that funny story about the not-so-dwarf nasturtiums, as it turned out. Funny what some composted manure will do to make grow, sometimes out of control. Hank

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  12. Hank, I am totally in love with "Nasties" we do call them that for good reason. Aphids, and acres of them. I have been planting them in my garden beds for years, but never used this variety. Well, I will have to fix that won't I.

    BTW, I adore Westcoast Seeds. Have always grown them, and am a big fan of that company.

    Jen

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  13. I had a spurless pink nasturtium last summer. But this one is just gorgeous!

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  14. Just beautiful. I enjoy seeing the leaves of nasturtiums as much as the blossoms. We once had nasturtium-printed wallpaper in a bath. The ladies' room near the bar in a hotel where we stayed in the Caribbean had the same wallpaper, except our blooms were yellow and orange, while theirs were pink and purple!

    I signed up somewhere for some nasturtium seeds for a project involving bloggers. They need to hurry along so we can get started before it gets too warm here.

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  15. These are lovely nasturtiums. I haven't seen them before. They make me think of cool summer drinks in the garden - so refreshing! :)

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  16. Hank, we love the Nasturtiums and have them in our vegetable garden, but this peachy one is amazingly beautiful and I think worth ordering . Thank you, Diana

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  17. Lovely photo ... I've grown these myself and they are such a great colour.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog ... it's amazing to me how we can both grow some of the same plants in such different conditions. Hope you show some photos of your portulacas when they're in bloom!

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