Planting guide

When to plant nasturtium

Fast, forgiving trailing or bushy flowers with peppery leaves and blooms you can eat. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Flowers in: 7–9 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Colours: orange, yellow, red, cream
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means nasturtium can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant nasturtium

Soak seed overnight and push 2cm deep where it will grow.
Choose poor soil; rich soil gives leaves, not flowers.
Water only when dry.
Pick leaves and flowers for salads.

Nasturtium varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Empress of India Classicheirloom · 16–18 wksRed flowers, about 25cm tall
Jewel Mix Classicheirloom · mixed · 7–9 wksMixed colours
Alaska Mixed Classicmixed · 7–9 wksMixed colours
Canary Creeper Classic9–11 wksYellow flowers
Tom Thumb Classicdwarf · heirloom · pot-friendly · 7–9 wksSold by Happy Valley, Seeds of Plenty
Tom Thumb Black Velvet Adventurousdwarf · pot-friendly · 7–9 wksBlack flowers