Late bloomer

[darkemeralds]

A fleeting moment of Pacific Northwest summer this year was surrounded on the mid-June and mid-August sides by cool, cloudy, rainy days, and now it seems that fall is here. It was 57 degrees in my bedroom when I woke up this morning. Already time to start closing the windows.

From four seeds that a friend of my mother's brought from New Zealand a couple of months ago, a single heirloom nasturtium has managed to bloom at last.

Comments

[decemberleaf.livejournal.com]

What a stunningly beautiful picture. And edible, no less. (Is ALL of it edible?) I'm beginning to realize how much I've underestimated seeds.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

The leaves and flowers of nasties are both edible--and both are quite pretty in a salad.

In this case, since I have just the single blossom, I'm going to watch it carefully for seed formation, then preserve that little puppy for next year. In a couple of years, I might with luck be able to share this particularly beautiful old-fashioned dark orange nasturtium with fellow gardeners. I'm especially partial to the bluish cast of the leaves.

[decemberleaf.livejournal.com]

I'm remembering stories of pioneer women traveling westward and keeping seeds safe by sewing them into the hems of their aprons.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful image.

Of course, lack of laundry facilities then becomes kind of a plus!

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

Pretty. And, as you say, tasty!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Maybe next year, that one seed I'm going to collect from that one flower will give rise to a more saladworthy crop of nasties.

Hey! I made Goku Buns last night. I have four of them with me right now, two for breakfast and two for lunch.

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

Good luck. The slugs ate the rocket we planted in the back garden so we're trying again with planting it in pots at the front. Found a mouse checking these out yesterday. In Broad Daylight! We are so doomed.

Hey! I made Goku Buns last night. I have four of them with me right now, two for breakfast and two for lunch.

Don't let Sanzo know you're biting into the monkey's bum. :-)

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

When mice become bold: isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?

Sanzo will never find out.

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

When mice become bold: isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?

Sarah Palin might be another one.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Welcome To The Palin-Drome.

[starfishchick]

Gorgeous!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There's nothing like pitch-black night for a high-contrast background.

[roseambr.livejournal.com]

What a pretty nasty. One of my favorite flowers of all times. While I was at the very painful family reunion this last weekend in Baker City area of Oregon I harvested some seeds of a Four O'clock. The flowers were a bright red with a fuscia center that gave that blueish florescent cast, much like the leaves of your nasty. Named for the fact that the flower petals remain curled up (looking a little like a hardy fuscia flower) until the sun is off of them around 4:00pm. Then they open up and shine in the evening light. A very beautiful sight. I'm going to be putting them into the ground here soon myself and seeing what I get in the spring.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Those sound lovely! I've been giving a lot of thought to how best to mix ornamentals and food plants next year. Seems like there should be plenty of opportunity for pretty flowers and shapely, textury landscape plants in among the beans and squashes. Four o'clocks sound like a great addition to the plan.

[roseambr.livejournal.com]

You are welcome to some of my harvested seeds. I'll save you some.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

That would be great! I've been saving up toilet paper tubes to make little seedling planters out of (you cut them in half and mass them on a cookie sheet with a heating pad under it and maybe a plastic tent over it. Fill 'em all with potting soil, plant your seeds, and then you can just pop them into the ground whole when the seeds come up.

[decemberleaf.livejournal.com]

GOT to try it this coming year. That is such a great idea.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll report! I've read about this but haven't tried it yet. It seems like a simple, sustainable idea and a great use for those tubes.

[llaras.livejournal.com]

Oh, how pretty!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Pretty nasty, as it were. ;)