Oh, where to begin? The snow that fell early in May gave way to unusually warm temperatures the rest of the month. The past week and a half the temperatures hovered around 85 degrees everyday (it felt a lot like August!) and there’s been no rain. June is now here, and though the first few days were also very warm and humid, rain arrived last night and it hasn’t stopped yet. Yesterday was 80 degrees… the temperature today is 54.
In one month the Spitfire nasturtiums have endured snow, heat, drought and now heavy rain. They’ve seen it all..and they are a little worse for wear. If the weather isn’t crazy enough, the stressed plants have fallen prey to insects as well. Yup…something is feasting on the foliage.
Now I must confess. We’ve been very busy with a new landscaping project in the front of our house. A small border has turned into a wide swath and though it’s been really fun to plant, the other gardens have been mostly ignored. Including the plot with my Spitfire nasturtiums. I took them for granted. I’ve always had great luck growing nasturtiums and they’ve never been bothered by pests (though aphids are their biggest nuisance). Our new project is almost complete and I plan to spend most of the week weeding, feeding and planting in the gardens. Hopefully these little plants are merely lonely for some attention and they’ll perk up quickly. Until then, I’m enjoying these blooms in the garden from nasturtiums that re-seeded after last summer…
Go figure. The nasturtiums in the garden are as fickle as the weather in May!
Remember to follow the grow-along fun with the other garden bloggers and see how their Spitfire nasturtiums are growing! You can find a list of participating friends here: Gardenbloggers.com.
“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds”
Sorry to hear about your crazy weather but I hope thing have settled and that your nasturtiums bounce back.
Ahh..such fickle weather. Feast or famine with rain and sun, LOL! Thank you for the well wishes and keep your fingers crossed!:-)
I’m not at all impressed by the growth habit of ‘Spitfire.’ I think it’s because I’m used to a much more vigorous viner/climber. Mine is in a pot with a black-eyed Susan vine, and I’m allowing both to trail out and down a pedestal that the pot is sitting on. I’m not one to help climbers climb. And if ‘Spitfire’ can’t climb on it’s own, I won’t fool with keeping stems tied to wire. I’m growin it more to eat anyway. They’re really nice and peppery in a garden salad.
I’m hoping Spitfire will have the same resilience as the other nasturtiums that are thriving in my garden this year. I’m finally seeing them them stretch out a bit, though hey are trailing as you said. The best climbing nasturtium I’ve grown is Peaches and Cream..the grew over our grape arbor in just a few weeks! Thankfully, climbing or not, all nasturtiums are delicious and attractive in sandwiches, salads, vinegars and more.