i can hardly wait for the nasturtiums to begin blossoming. their scent is somehow so comforting for me, reminiscent of childhood summers and playing on the front steps of our house that were surrounded with climbing foliage and orange blossoms. i prefer the dark red ones. one 'red velvet' has opened up so far, but soon, soon...
this year i also tried two white varieties, 'milkmaid' and 'yeti'. the former is probably more like a pale yellow than cream, but i have high hopes for the latter. i just hope the flowers won't be as rare a sight as the name suggests... they have only just begun to form buds but with the weather so warm it shouldn't take long now. i'm really excited to see them.
last year i picked and chose the darkest seeds from my red ones, to see if they produce the darkest flowers also. i'm not sure how important a factor sunshine is, because my plants don't get too many hours of it, but even in the shadow-grown red velvets the foliage is distinctively darker than the others. i gave my mom the palest seeds, and she has a sunnier spot, so i can compare the two.
then, the really fun part is if i manage to cross-pollinate the darkest red and the whitest white ones and get something spectacular next year... but i'm getting way ahead of myself here.
