Monstertiums

Juliarugula

blown_dry Right now about a third are covered with the most fantastically large volunteer nasturtiums

Really cool! I’ve never had nasturtiums self-seed. Maybe it’s a warmer climate thing?

Teddahlia

When I was six in about 1953, my mother allowed me to plant my first flowers: nasturtiums.

blown_dry

Nasturtiums are hardy here. They can blanket the ground in seeds.
These beds are 5x5.

I feel like I'm telling a fish story. They are huge!

Dahlia53

blown_dry it's been so unseasonably warm here that we have aphids all over whatever the Jan. deep freeze didn't kill. I'm always battling nasturtiums as a weed in the garden but the good news is they are an aphid magnet, and then you can just pull 'em and keep them from your dahlias, and get rid of most of the aphids too.

blown_dry

I'm enjoying the excuse to get outside in some brief sunlight.
Here it is again with a "normal" one from elsewhere in the yard. Set against one of the CA wax myrtles, which I understand make good greens for winning arrangements.

Juliarugula

blown_dry that is one monster leaf!

I love to use the Alaska variety as a trailing element in bouquets, but I never can get them to grow as well as I like.

Wax Myrtles can be pretty cool looking trees -there were lots of them where we live in Texas, but too cold here in Indiana.

Clover

Nasturtiums are one of those flowers that I love that don't love me and/or my climate. I've started them from seed several times and had them do fairly well until summer hits and then they keel over. I think they're so pretty (and tasty!) though!

blown_dry

Clover We have two seasons and summer is not one of them, so that's probably why they like it here. 🙂

Teddahlia

Wax Myrtles are the trees we see in bloom here and we say to each other "what the hell is that, I want one." It has not happened, yet.

blown_dry

Teddahlia I am guessing that y'all's wax myrtle might be whatever mine is named after, like my "Chilean Guava" has nothing to do with Guava. The California Wax Myrtle does not have any showy blooms. The berries are hard and waxy, and I understand they can be processed for wax.