Nasturtium – Empress of India (Heirloom) – Tropacolum majus Annual – These easy to grow heirloom flowers with their unique deep blue-green foliage and vermilion red blossoms have graced gardens for hundreds of years. As a wonderful bonus, both the bright flowers and leaves are deliciously edible with a spicy-sweet watercress-like taste. Empress works well for garnishing green or seafood salads, chopped and mixed with cream cheese or added to rice dishes. Soil & Water: Grow in any well-drained garden soil. No fertilizer is usually needed and too much nitrogen will create abundant foliage without substantial bloom.
Variety Details
Botanical name:Tropacolum majus
Plant type: Tender Annual
Growth habit: Low Growing
Crop category: Flower seed
Flower character: Annual – These easy to grow heirloom flowers with their unique deep blue-green foliage and vermilion red blossoms have graced gardens for hundreds of years.
Recorded feature: Container Compatible
Product format: Seed packet
Sowing & Growing
Soil Temperature: above 50°F
Planting Depth: 1″
Germination: 9-12 Days
Height At Maturity: 10″
Sun/Shade: Full to Partial Sun
Spacing After Thinning: 10″
Prepare a weed-reduced seedbed for ‘Empress of India’ Heirloom Nasturtium and use the recorded planting season, depth, and light requirements. Press shallow-sown seed into good soil contact and keep the seed zone from drying during establishment. Thin or transplant only when the growth habit and spacing call for it. Leave enough room for mature width and air movement. Bloom timing and final height can shift with sowing date, climate, soil, moisture, and competition, so use listed figures as planning ranges.
Place ‘Empress of India’ Heirloom Nasturtium where its recorded height and growth habit fit the surrounding planting. Shorter companions can be positioned toward bed edges, while taller stems need room where they will not shade small seedlings too early. If cutting flowers, harvest with clean tools at the stage appropriate to the bloom form. If leaving flowers in place, observe how bloom sequence changes through the season and record which sowing date performed best at the site.
