❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛 Don’t you just love nasturtiums? The contrast of brilliant red with jolly yellow, and the funnel-shaped nectar spurs, put me in mind of a jester’s outfit, and what I find particularly satisfying is the way the petiole (the stalk that attaches the leaf to the stem) joins the leaf so neatly in its centre.
And they’re a doddle to grow. I have fond memories of spending pocket money on nasturtium seeds from our local hardware store, and just poking them into the ground and letting them get on with it. They flower best on poor soil, so you don’t even need to think about feeding them 🍽️
However, they can feed you – the flowers and young leaves can be used in a salad 🥗(although you have to watch out for blackfly) and the seed pods can be pickled and used like capers 😋
I had great fun creating ‘Nasturtium’, part of my Curiously Cubist series, in acrylic paint with graphite pencil on paper. You can see it on display (together with its sister painting, ‘Bluebell’) at Bruton Art Society’s 71st annual exhibition.
The show is held in the magnificent setting of King’s Bruton Memorial Hall BA10 0ED, 17 – 24 August. Open 10:00 – 16:00 each day; free entry and free parking on site ❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛
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