Double cosmos — Rose Bon Bon

I think this is what they're supposed to look like, but only a couple of the plants ended up with the "bon bon."

Seed packet illustration.

Most of them look like this.


Not that I'm complaining.

They are gorgeous.

GROW — July update

Around June 15 this leaf grew to be over 6" wide. Those are my hands; the leaf easily spans both. My palms are exactly 3" wide.

Exactly.

I'm getting some crazy Jurassic Park-style foliage over here. At one point they were trying to take over the entire planter, but once they got big enough I gently encouraged them to grow out the railing to trail off the balcony. I mean ... I shoved them through the railing and kept poking stray leaves back through each time the wind tried to shove them back.


At the same time, I got my first bloom. It's pretty, but I was expecting a deep red as shown on the seed packet. This flower turned out to be paler and orange-y.



But then these babies bloomed. So, I'm satisfied.





These were Alaska, saved from last year's plants. It's a very nice, compact plant. And a more prolific bloomer, but not as large as Spitfire.


The vines are getting pretty long.


I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds.

GROW — June update

Spitfires in a small planter with a trellis. May 15.


In the big planter - May 20th


May 20


Today. The plants in the near planter haven't grown at all in the last few weeks. The ones in the far planter are doing OK, not fantastic, just OK. I have no idea what the problem is. Probably something with the soil, but I don't know how that would have happened — this dirt both grew herbs last year, and was amended with compost this spring. :(


In the big planter, they are FANTASTIC! The newest leaves are huge — 5" across!


And they're getting big enough to peek through the railing.


Still no flowers though.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

Sowing Nasturtiums

I sowed the nasturtiums in paper egg cartons on April 12.


I noticed the first seedling April 20.



By April 22, most of the Spitfire's had emerged.

All but 2 of the seeds I planted sprouted. One died after I accidentally let them dry out. (All the others recovered!) And one was snapped off when I carelessly knocked them over. So I was left with 8. After I hardened them off I planted them so they can grow up the trellis.


I planted a few others directly in pots. I probably could have done this for all of them, because it didn't give them much of a head start.

Also planted a few of the seeds I saved from my nasturtiums last year. Only 4 of those have sprouted so far — one of them just appeared yesterday. So I'm going to keep my eye on those for awhile longer.


"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

Seed GROW project — Nasturtium "Spitfire"

This year I'm participating in the Seed GROW Project put together by MrBrownThumb. Renee's Garden donated a packet of Climbing Nasturtium "Spitfire" seeds to all participants. I got my packet weeks ago, but today is the official starting date.

I am really excited to get going. I'm going to start them indoors in paper egg cartons like I did for my nasturtiums last year. It will happen this week, I just didn't have time to do it before I left town for the holiday.

I have high expectations for this variety. Last year I grew a bush type of nasturtium, and it didn't really spread out or hang down at all from the edge of the balcony planters. So this year I'm excited to see if these will cascade down. I also want to try training them to grow up a trellis and frame the sliding doors with them. I think it will be really pretty. I have 37 seeds (5gm) to work with.

Renee's Garden also sent a packet of seeds for Double Cosmos "Rose Bon Bon." I haven't grown cosmos before, but they're supposedly good cut flowers. Having flowers I could cut and do nicely in a vase was something I missed planning for last year. I just have to figure out where to put them.


"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."