Article from Martin

Having spent years growing Nasturtium flowers in hanging baskets on my patio - a key discovery I made was that their moist tender shoots and leaves are huge attractors of blackfly - a quality which can be put to use when grown alongside vegetable plants as natural fly-guards.

These highly attractive, self propagating climbing flowers come in many mixed colour varieties from deep purples to glowing reds, oranges and yellows. A favourite for the bumble bee as their bright colours are almost luminous, the large round leaves often the size of small Lily pads are peppery, highly edible and often used, when washed,  in Chinese salads. The same leaves are also a favourite for Guinea pigs and rabbits !

Very much a "man's plant" - needing little care or attention (!),  the seeds should be planted out in early May, merely fingernail deep, under a light tilth where they grow rapidly and flourish even in poor and dry soil conditions. For bigger leaves and flower heads water thoroughly. By placing Nasturtium plants alongside and outside rows of veg plants, around six inches apart, preferably against trellissing, like a Great Wall of Nasturtium, gardeners will find that aphids, blackfy and caterpillar larvae will be content to take up residence in these dense plants and progress no further to tougher leaved plants like cabbage and cauliflower. Not to mention a guaranteed daily visit from the local bumble bee swarms who will be allured by the beacon of colour, pollinating other plants in the process.

For all the unsightly appearance of clumps of blackfly, they do not seem to harm the hardy Nasturtium directly, in terms of flower growth, preferring the underside of the leaves or stalks. The flower shoots can be subsequently removed , rinsed and displayed in vases. Dead heading, as with the Rose, will create more flowerheads on these plants which will literally grow ever onwards, outwards and upwards creating an attractive floral display around vegetable plots. For severe blackfly attacks a mild mixture of detergent and water sprayed on them should solve the problem - an ideal project for kids in summer holidays with water pistols !! For densely populated blackfly leaves ( usually colonised on the underside of certain leaves) - remove and dispose of the leaf entirely.

Meanwhile the heavily protected rows of edible veg should remain , on the whole , unaffected.

Come Autumn, the Nasturtium will drop its seeds which have the appearance of 'corrugated' garden peas, lightly shaking the plant, as one would an apple tree, will bring forth a tumbling bounty of seeds for next year - important to leave them to cure in the air via an open bowl or tray indoors,  until they  become hard, dry and cardboard brown in colour, ready for storage in paper bags or an old envelope, popped in a drawer or stored somewhere equally dark, dry and warm for planting next May.

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