Bright sun....I always watered ( haven't grown them in years) but no fertilizer or they all go to leaf...
And....there are different varieties....some vining and some bushier.
I like the vining.
Linda C

I water these ones if they start to wilt. They do prefer dry to soggy but need water. I am not sure where you are but if you are having a prolonged heatwave they might sit and wait it out. If you water enough they will probably make it through to hit their stride in somewhat cooler weather. Here in z6 in MA they really are best in the fall for me.

I planted some "Milkmaid" nast. seeds in middle of June in the vegetable garden, and they did come up in about a week. Now they're just sitting there - look healthy but not growing. I'm assuming they're just sitting there because it's been so darn hot. Well, lesson learned for next year - get the seeds in the ground earlier so they at least fill in before the heatwave hits. I'm hoping they perk up when it cools down.

Carole:

I grew mine from seed this year and the ones in full sun have already been roasted by the last week's weather and composted! I'm growing some also that have flowered well but are not getting all day heat and sun. So from my perspective part sun would be fine. I will grow these from seed again next year but choose a kinder location.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Kate

I just saw nasturtiums yesterday for the first time. I loved them. I found a garden center yesterday that was less than an hour away from me and they had these flowers in a display. I was so shocked by this garden center because it was without a doubt one of the nicest ones I have ever been to and couldn't believe I have lived here 8 years and didn't know about it. Now I have a new plant place. :) Are these flowers hard to find? It seems from the websites I have gone to they sell the seeds.

They grow quickly and easily from seeds planted in early spring.
Nasturtiums were the first flowers I ever planted at about age 3....the big seeds are very easy for little fingers to plant and they come up soon and make a lovely show.
Linda C

I grow all of mine from seeds I direct sow as well. I soak overnight and spend a couple of hours out there in early May poking them into the ground. I have hundreds of them around the yard. If you get them at the right time at the garden center they can give an earlier show but I have also had them sit and sulk until early July also so I dont think its worth it.

In our Ontario garden, the volunteer nasturtiums come up right along with the vegetables - some come up as bush type and others vining type. All colours! Pick the blooms and put them in your salad - yum! They are similar in taste to watercress - a little spicy and so pretty. A good, simple hors d'oeuvre for a garden party: A slice of sausage such as a chorizo or a pepperette, a cherry tomato and a nasturtium speared together on a toothpick!

Peach Melba came & went quickly- not sure what was up with that.
Tangerine is flowering, but doing little.
Cherries Jubilee is a wonderful celebration, and is just now starting to peeter out...not sure how to resolve that. Maybe they melt in the heat. I used them as a full front border on the edge of one side of my garden and I love them.
I had good luck last year with Empress of India, as well. Always neglected except to weed around them, rarely watered.
I'm in Z5 in New England.

I tried nasturtiums for the first time last year. I started them from seed, but did so late, and had the same experience as mxk3 is having this year. [g] They were in my vegetable garden that only gets about 6 hours of sun and they still did nothing all summer and didn't make it into the fall.

This year I bought a started Alaska nasturtiums with the variegated foliage on impulse and added it to a shade container just for the foliage. The container gets good light but only about 1 or 2 hrs of sun in the morning. I was just looking at it yesterday and heat and all it is a good size mass and full of flowers. Packed in a large container with begonias, four oclocks and lamium. I did have to pull off some of the leaves in the inside that were yellowing, but the rest looks great.

I tried nasturtium seed direct this year, and soaked them over night and not one came up. I think one packet was a year old but at least one was new I think. I would love to grow more of these from seed. I am going to try it again next year.

I hope this link works. I know my vision is not so hot, but how are those nastys growing? I see no stem!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeannez/164233371/

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeannez/164233371/

LOL Mammie. They're growing through the fence, that's how.

I plant mine by seeds as well. Some flowers do a lot better when direct planted, and nasturtiums are one of them. They're so old, they're new again. My mother always had a big bed of nasturtiums growing, she loved them best. Now people have rediscovered them.

BAH! Mine are looking so cr@ppy! Just a few very small leaves, they look pathetic. Maybe it's the cultivar (Milkmaid), I don't know. Perhaps I'll try a differnt location next year, and definitely try to remember to get them in the ground earlier.

Why it is the simple old-fashioned favorites any fool can grow I have trouble with, the but finickier stuff thrives for me LOL!!

I haven't had much luck with 'milkmaid' nasturtiums this year either!
I'll have to see how they bloom now that the cool weather is here for awhile!

If they don't bloom well, I'm going back to 'moonlight' next year.

My nasturtiums have done better than anything else in my garden this year, with almost daily rain.

{{gwi:18577}}

Newskye, you have the garden I want!! I can't get over those nasturtiums. I planted seeds in a big strawberry pot, and they came up just fine, but the location was too shady: dinner-plate-sized leaves and no blooms. So I moved the pot to a spot that gets morning sun til about 1 or 2 o'clock, then bright shade. They have bloomed wonderfully (I keep deadheading), but the leaves are small and tend to turn yellow before they should. I'm guessing that it's because this area, Central California, is really too hot for them. But if it's something that simple, why do I keep getting such wonderful flowers? It's A Mystery, as the man kept saying in Shakespeare in Love...
But yours are truly magnificent!