Moonlight Nasturtium Seeds For Planting (Tropaeolum majus)

Quick Facts

• Tropaeolum majus
• Type: Flower
• Color: Creamy Yellow / White
• Height: 8" to 14" Tall
• Width: 70" to 80" Spread
• Season: Annual
• Zones: 3 to 10
• Environment: Full Sun

Description

When you think of nasturtiums, those bright gold and yellow blooms might pop into your mind. (So might furniture from the early 70s). As pretty as they are, they don’t fit everyone’s garden aesthetic. Bold is beautiful, but Nasturtium Moonlight’s subtly pale, two to three-inch butter-and-cream-hued flowers fit in beautifully anywhere the standard variety doesn’t. 

Like classic nasturtiums, Moonlight is a vining annual that thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-10. They require full sun but otherwise can handle a little neglect, making them good candidates to cover up old fences or crumbling walls. The six-foot vines can be trained to climb vertically or left to sprawl. They make excellent groundcovers, with their dense, eight- to fourteen-inch tall soil-shading foliage and profuse flowers. Unlike many ground covers, though, nasturtium’s easy to control; it dies back during the first hard frost, and is easy to remove by hand if it gets unruly. 

Since all parts of the nasturtium—flowers, stems, leaves, and seeds—are edible, they add a fresh, peppery taste to salads, or serve as attractive and tasty garnishes. The subtle colors of Moonlight make this heirloom an excellent cut flower, and the variety is a rare but sought-after feature of bespoke bridal bouquets and wedding decor. 

Whether or not you’re familiar with nasturtiums, you’ll appreciate their rounded, soft-textured foliage as much as you will the trumpeted blossoms. They’ll need a little finessing to germinate, but once they get going they’re easy to grow and this variety in particular will add an exotic—and romantic—touch to your garden.