Nasturtiums

Well, it seems that each year, every business wants to get the jump on the other, and so sends out their catalogs earlier and earlier. Seed catalogs never used to come before Christmas, and it makes me a little unhappy to see them before the new year. After the whirlwind of Christmas, when the cold sets in for what may be quite a while, the arrival of brightly colored, hopeful catalogs is a refreshing breath of spring fresh air. How can we not be hopeful, when we see those beautiful pictures of juicy tomatoes, yellow corn ears, bright peppers, and lettuce with dew droplets shining in the sunlight?

We forget the slugs and snails, aphids and voracious caterpillars, scale and squash bugs. Hey...gardening is a battle this side of Eden!

But. Flip through your catalog to the flower section. To the 'N's.

There they are!

Nasturtiums!

I think these flowers may have been named by aphids...Nasty-urtiums!

Because, aphids DETEST Nasturtiums, and so these lovely flowers belong in every spring garden. One year as an experiment, I planted Nasturtiums on one side of a row of broccoli, but not on the other side. The side with the Nasturtiums had no aphids, but the side without Nasturtiums had a noticeable population of the buggers. They didn't come within 5 feet of the flowers, though!

Another neat thing about Nasturtiums is that the leaves and blooms are edible, and can be put into salads raw. I like to eat the blossoms the most...they have a peppery/radishy flavor, but the middle of the flower is surprisingly sweet. Yummy!

Oh...and did I mention the flowers are beautiful?