Blog by Paula Pashby
A while back, I wrote a blog about Nasturtiums, Tropaeolum, adding a nice splash of color to the garden with their vibrant, orange-colored flowers. I planted Nasturtiums in one of my raised garden beds and added a tall trellis to provide a nice accent in the vegetable garden.
The optimum temperature for Nasturtiums to thrive is between 60°F and 75°F. Since it does get hot in our area, the foliage withered in the direct sun and the trellis went bare during the summer - bummer! So, I searched for other plants with colorful flowers to replace the Nasturtiums.
I decided to try a Bougainvillea since we have this shrub growing in another part of our yard and it is stunning! Bougainvillea blooms in many colors, including orange, pink, purple, red, white, and yellow. It is an evergreen climbing shrub and has the potential to bloom during the fall, spring and summer seasons. Bougainvillea thrives in daytime temperatures that range between 70-100°F. However, immature plants should be covered during winter frost.
Last summer, I removed the dead Nasturtium from my raised bed garden and planted a small Bougainvillea with purple flowers in the same location. The Bougainvillea took well, filled the trellis and bloomed nicely. Unfortunately, we were out of town when a frost hit our area, and the Bougainvillea lost all its leaves… another disappointment.
When spring arrived, I was surprised to discover that Nasturtiums were growing and filling the trellis! The old plant must have dropped seeds and is now making a comeback! Not only that, but I also noticed some red flowers popping up among the yellow Nasturtium blooms. It turns out that the old Bougainvillea was also growing back and the combination of colors is beautiful!
Just goes to show that sometimes the garden disappointments can later become delightful surprises… another garden lesson that can also apply to the way we can approach life.
