How to grow nasturtiums

This year I grew nasturtiums from seed for the first time. Trailing and climbing varieties are available and they have a long flowering period, from summer until the first frosts. Choose an orange or yellow variety and the flowers will brighten up the greyest day.

All photos by Toni Abram.

Nasturtium flower.

I chose to grow a variety of seed called Empress of India which I got along with my online food shopping. The packet showed the flowers to be a dark rusty orange. Mine are not so deep a colour as that shown on the packet but they are pretty nonetheless. It is possible they will darken in the sun but there hasn't been much of that since the flowers opened.

As this was my first time growing nasturtiums, I sowed some indoors and some directly outdoors to edge my bets. The seeds were easy to plant as they were a good size, so I could see exactly what I was planting, where I was planting it and there was no need for thinning out.

Nasturtiums

The seeds I sowed directly outdoors grew well, as did the ones that I sowed indoors, which I later transplanted outside. I grew mine in a pot, tying some garden canes together, so the plant had something to grow up and the pot was placed in an area of the garden that gets full sun for much of the day. Then, other than some occasional watering and deadheading, I left them to it.

One negative thing I have found out about this plant is that it is loved by black fly and in cool climates, nasturtiums can get infested by it. Some gardeners plant nasturtiums as a decoy crop to keep the black fly away from other plants and as a companion plant for cucumbers and tomatoes, to repel cucumber beetles, whiteflies, aphids and squash bugs. Nasturtiums also attract hoverflies and other beneficial bugs that dine on aphids.

The black fly look unsightly but can (if you can bear it) be picked off infested leaves, stems and branches. Alternatively you can spray your plants with insecticidal soap spray or make your own spray using washing up liquid and tap water.

Nasturtiums

As well as being pretty, nasturtium flowers and leaves are edible (providing they are not covered in black fly). See the Gardeners World website below for more information about edible flowers and search 'nasturtium salad' on the internet to see recipes.

• Edible  flowers

If you like the idea of growing your own edible flowers but are concerned about eating random plants from your garden, search 'edible flower seed collections' on the internet to learn what is available.