PlantFiles: Nasturtium
Tropaeolum majus 'Black Velvet'

I planted some of these in the flower boxes in front of my home. With their dark, deep red color, they were outstanding! Since the are was very hot, and we traveled a bit this summer, they were burned up a bit, but once watered they came right back. Cannot wait to plant again next year. Saving seeds was easy, but I have purchased a few to add to the show.

Intense velvety-black/maroon flowers on 10-12" dwarf plants. Suitable for containers. As all nasturtiums, leaves and blossoms are edible and great in salads. Seed avail. from SSE.

I don't want to give this plant a negative eval. yet, since it hasn't even bloomed for me. The promised color of the flowers is the only reason I bought seed. I planted fresh seed in containers this spring, and had good germination. The plants are small and delicate for a nasturtium. The leaves were disfigured by leafminers, but pinching off the damaged ones made the plants look better. Despite popular wisdom (don't fertilize, don't water much) I find that these plants actually do well on good treatment. Annual nasturtiums are generally rampant growers, but this variety seems rather fussy. If the flowers don't impress me, I will not try this plant again.

Flowers are darkest in color in cooler weather, rich red in summer heat. Good flavor.

(Just a note on Nasturtiums in general: newly composted or manured soils will encourage more leaves than flowers. Do not fertiliize for this reason, and direct sow where possible.)