Flowers & companions
Nasturtium
Edible; aphid trap crop.
- Outside
- Direct after mid May
- Where
- Bag rims and bed edges, poor soil
- Sun
- Full sun; takes light shade
- Water
- Water in, then mostly forget them
- Harvest
- Leaves and flowers, Jun to Oct
Nasturtiums are the garden's decoys, edible flowers planted so the aphids gather somewhere convenient and expendable. They ask for poor soil and neglect, which is a rare bargain.
Growing
Direct sow the big seeds after mid May wherever a bag rim or the front of a bed needs spilling over, and do not improve the soil; rich ground grows all leaves and no flowers. Settle the seeds in with one watering and leave the hose elsewhere for the rest of the summer; bloom runs June to frost. Station a few at the feet of the peppers and brassicas, and when a stem loads up with aphids, cut it and bin it, passengers included. That is the whole trap-crop protocol.
Varieties
Alaska carries variegated leaves worth growing on their own; Empress of India is the compact, dark-leaved classic.
In the kitchen
Leaves and flowers both eat peppery, like watercress with better looks. The green seed pods pickle into a fair imitation of capers.