Nasturtium

Tags

bladder, bronchitis, colds, companion plant, coughs, flower, flu, Herb, kidney, nasturtium, nasturtiums, salad, showy flowers, sore throat

Nasturtium Tropaeolum maju

Nasturtiums are a wonderfully colorful and useful  annual addition to any garden and they are easy to grow. It has a pleasant peppery taste and has become a favourite world over. The showy flowers come in shades of fiery red, oranges and yellows. The flowers can be single or double.

Sow the seeds in Spring in a sunny spot. It does best in sandy soils, but any well drained soil will do. Interestingly, the poorer the soil, the more flowers the plant will produce.  Once they are established they will reseed themselves year after year.

Nasturtiums are wonderful companion plants. Plant them near roses, cucumbers, cabbage and other plants.

All parts of the plant are used. Eat a leaf at the first sign of a sore throat, another an hour later and a third leaf an house later. Nasturtiums have a high vitamin C content, as well as being a natural antibiotic. It is also used to treat bladder and kidney ailments,coughs, colds, flu, sore throats and bronchitis.

The flower has most often been consumed, making for an especially ornamental salad ingredient.

Flowers Garden

Tags

composite flowers, flower, Flower garden, Flowers, garden, Lost gardens of Heligan, plant, plants, showy flowers, South Africa, South African endemic plant, Southern Africa, The Lost gardens of Heligan

• Although it is the end of Summer in the UK, we were still able to see many flowers in the flower garden at The Lost Gardens of Heligan.
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• Rudbeckia still as bright as ever, distinguished for their long flowering season.
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• This Melianthes (Kruidtjie roer my nie) caught my eye. It is a South African endemic plant.  On a sunny day the sun-birds feast on the nectar dripping from the flowers, but any one touching those attractive leaves is in for a surprise. With a strong unpleasant smell, it warns all that it is highly toxic.
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• Echinacea commonly know as “Cone-flowers,  have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word, meaning “sea urchin,” due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers.
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• This flower is a mystery, could someone please help me identify it.
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• This Sedum or Stonecrop  leaves  are edible.
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Pelargonium species are evergreen perennials indigenous to Southern Africa, and are drought and heat tolerant, but can tolerate only minor frosts. They are extremely popular garden plants, grown as bedding plants in temperate regions.
The Purple flower is  Dissotis princeps, another South African endemic. This handsome species is fast, easy and rewarding to grow provided it is planted in fertile, well-watered soil in a sunny position
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