Plants & Bulbs

» Barbara Nicholson Bell - Other vines?

Colleen, those Thumbergia look remarkably like nasturtiums. Can you give some advice on growing nasturtium? I've had only one year's success, and some sellers have sold me pots of something else that turned out not to be nasturtium at all. (I buy at a local outdoor wholesaler's market.)

Also, we tried growing clematis in a large pot outdoors under an arbor, but the squirrels managed to destroy it before it was tall enough to climb. We don't have full sun anywhere to plant them in the ground. Any advice?

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» cvanderlinden - Other vines?

In response to Other vines? posted by bici:
Hi Barbara,

The thing about nasturtiums is that the more you neglect them, the happier they are! They don't like to be fertlized, and they prefer infrequent (but thorough) watering, say, every ten days or so. They do best in full sun, but can handle a little shade. Nasturtium is another annual that is really, really easy to start from seed. I typically plant the seeds directly in the ground in mid-May here in Michigan, and I have blooms from early summer until frost. The "Jewel" series is a great one to try: vibrant colors, tons of blooms---gorgeous!

You have devious squirrels too, eh? They're just so persistent! The only thing I've found that will keep them away from my hanging baskets (last year a squirrel made a total mess of a hanging basket I'd just planted up with morning glory seeds. Since then, all of my baskets/containers get this treatment!) is to spray the plants and soil in the container with hot pepper spray. To make it, you just take two hot peppers (the stronger the better...think jalapeno, habanero, or maybe even scotch bonnets) and two cups of water and whiz it all together in a blender. Once it's liquified, strain it through a couple layers of cheesecloth, then add another quart of water to the strained solution to thin it out a bit. Put it in a spray bottle, and thoroughly spray anything that you want the squirrels to keep out of. You'll need to reapply the spray every couple of weeks, and definitely after it rains, but the extra work is worth it if it keeps the little buggers out of your containers!

-- posted by cvanderlinden

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