Nasturtiums, Tropaeolum majus

On these summery days, I sit at the table with the window open beside me and the sweet and peppery smell of my nasturtiums fills the air. It is so lovely and fresh that I cannot help but look over at them, with their beautiful brightly coloured flowers.

Here is what The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness says:

     CULTIVATION
Nasturtiums thrive in full sun or partial shade. Sow the seeds singly 8 inches apart in late spring in any free-draining soil. In general, the poorer the soil, the more flowers you can expect
     USES
Both the leaves and flower buds have a cress-like flavor and add bite to salads and sandwiches. [...] The leaves have a high vitamin-C content and are thought to relieve cold symptoms.

I love their very round leaves and, when I was forced to prune them back as they were taking over my herb garden (as you can see in the pictures, they're peaking through the basil plants, which aren't even in the same pot!), I put some of them in The Complete Encyclopedia of Garden Plants to be pressed. Perhaps these will find themselves on the next card you receive from me!

It seems appropriate that (according to wiki) these plants are named "nose-twister" or "nose-tweaker." They are named after the Watercress (Nasturtium Officinale) for the similar oils they produce.

Most of the species of Nasturtiums we know today are from Peru and according to the blog Nasturtium (see them here):

The first, brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in the late 15th to early 16th century, was Tropaeolum minus, a semi-trailing vine bearing spurred, lightly scented orange-yellow flowers with dark red spots on the petals and shield-shaped leaves. According to Jesuit missionaries, the Incas used nasturtiums as a salad vegetable and as a medicinal herb.

In the late 17th century, a Dutch botanist introduced the taller, more vigorous Tropaeolum majus, a trailing vine with darker orange flowers and more rounded leaves. Since Spanish and Dutch herbalists shared seeds with their counterparts, the pretty, fragrant and easy-to-grow plants quickly became widespread throughout around Europe and Britain.

Although it is sometimes reported that nasturtiums were introduced to the US by the Philadelphia seedsman Bernard McMahon in 1806, they were recorded here as early as 1759. Thomas Jefferson planted them in his vegetable garden at Monticello from at least 1774 onward. Interestingly, in one entry in his garden book, he categorized it as a fruit amongst others such as the tomato, indicating that he ate the pickled seeds. Most nasturtiums grown at this time were the tall, trailing orange variety.

Over the course of the 19th century, breeders produced smaller, more compact types that mounded neatly into containers or formed a colorful, less sprawling edge to flower beds. Cultivars with cream and green variegated foliage appeared, as well as the vermilion-flowered Empress of India, with its strikingly contrasting blue-green leaves. These developments paralleled the gradual shift in the perception of nasturtiums from edible and herbal garden mainstays to viewing them as ornamental landscape plants. Monet let large swaths ramble along a walk at Giverny. The flowers and long-lasting leaves were popular in Victorian bouquets and table arrangements. Nasturtiums were still eaten, however, and were known to help prevent scurvy, since the leaves are rich in Vitamin C.