Tropaeolum Speciosum

Hello all, this is my first posting so here goes.
For a while I have wanted to grow the red perennnial nasturtium, Tropaeolum Speciosum.
This february I sent off for seeds from Chiltern Seeds and duly sowed them. I then put them in the fridge for a month, took them out but no germination. I have since learnt that the seeds need to be sown fresh. I am not sure about sending of to seed companies for more seeds as I have no idea exactly when is the seeding time and whether the seeds they will send me will be fresh.
Does anyone else grow this plant? I would be very grateful for any advice on sowing and growing it.
By the way, I also sowed seeds of the yellow perennial T.Podophyllum and have 2 seedlings. Any advice for growing them on from here appreciated.
With thanks in advance.

 

Hi BlackThorn and welcome to Gardeners Corner!
Personally I love the "Scottish Flame Flower" (T. speciosum)! Albeit I am not an expert. However, I would have thought even the chilling period you provided with the intention of inducing seed germination would not necessarily have affected their ability to germinate.

Anyhow, although I don't grow the perennial myself I would probably be able to get some tubers for you and I would be happy to pop them in the post if you can bear with me for a while.

As for T. polyphyllum - sorry can't really help you with this species.

Kind regards
Roy

 

That would be wonderful Royster. I will send you an SAE if and when.

 

No need to send any SAE BlackThorn, thanks.
I'll be in touch when I can get the tubers so that you are aware they have been posted.

Kind regards Roy

 

Thanks Roy, that is very kind of you!

 

Hi once again BlackThorn,
just checked out the New Members Introduction page and I see you are from Cornwall.
By eck, I'll deliver the tubers in person as Cornwall is such a beautiful county!!!

I am from Scotland myself and perhaps a little biased but the way I see it - Cornwall is like England's Scotland (Lake District aside).
Ooops, I may have to retract this message very shortly but I can't help the way I feel about our beautiful country now can I???!

Apologies to many and absolutely no offence intended - I live to be educated so please feel free to contribute!

Kindest regards
Roy

 

No offence taken, all three beautiful places. By the way, why is it known as the 'Scottish Flame Flower', I thought it comes from Peru or someplace?

 

Hi BlackThorn

Good question!

No idea really why its called Scottish Flame Flower. Why would it be, because, as you say its supposedly from Peru?

Nevertheless, I will contact a friend whose horticultural knowledge is far, far superior to my own, and will try to get back to you.

Having said this - many of the GC community most probably know the answer anyhow...

Kind regards
Roy

 

er don't mean to interupt this conversation, but I grow the stuff - or try to!

first of all it does not like lime, preferes acid soil, but I seem to get it to survive - only just.

I have it growing through my yew hedge, but I would say it is barely successful, I have some cuttings, but again they are just hanging in.

I have had some fairly good late summer displays, but there will not be any this year. I also had some new plants on order from T&M but they failed to deliver.

Don't quite know what to do with my cutting, I suspect if I plant it, it will not survive or sorry flourish, so I will perhaps look for something else to grow through my hedge.

 

It sounds difficult to grow Waco,do you think that I may have more luck as we have acid clay?

 

I tried for years (about 15)with no success to propagate ours which grew through a horizontal juniper.
Two years ago I did some major garden restructuring and ended with some big clumps of soil containing rhizomes which got scattered about parts of the garden. We've now got it all over the place and due to the big variation in sun that the different locations receive we have it in bloom from June to today. It climbs through a hydrangea hedge, sneaks up the pots containing oleadanders and wraps itself around dahlias and chrysanthemums.
I think the success was due to fairly large chunks of soil which left the rhizomes fairly undisturbed as previously I'd dug up and transplanted rhizomes without soil.

As to the name - It may have well have been a Scot that brought it back from Peru
:D
(Clay soil here BTW)

 

Thats really interesting gentlemen!

As Dave W pointed out the name may well have come from a Scottish plant collector.

This is what my friend had to say:
"As for Scottish Flame Flower, I see a number of nursery catalogues losing the "Scottish Bit", with common names there is no regulation covering them so both may be correct. I believe its picked this name up due its ease of growth and prolific flowering in Scottish gardens, especially on those damp, rich peaty soils. A beautiful wee gem we have, and a brilliant composition of the flame red flowers against the conifers which they are most notably associated with in Scottish Gardens. Almost impossible to cultivate in the dry south".

Kind regards
Roy

 

Dunno about the "Scottish" name, but it sounds like a marketing ploy. I only know Trop. speciosum as "Flame Creeper" and as far as I can tell it comes from Chile. The related Canary Creeper (Trop. peregrinum)is from Peru. Other Trops come from Bolivia. Best known Trops are the nasturtiums of course ( Tropaeoleum majus) and they are also from South America.

Tropaeoleum is the word coined by Linnaeus for the nasturtium. It's from the Greek or Latin word for "trophy" which refers to the shield shaped leaves and helmet shaped flowers. Apparently the ancient Romans displayed shields and helmets on a trophy stand and that gave Linnaeus the notion. Am I boring you?

 

Not me, I like to learn..keep it coming HB!

 

I'm pretty sure that the 'Scottish' bit simply refers to its generally great success in the cool, humid climate north of the border. There it races up conifers and other evergreens, flowering and with an abandon rarely seen in the south. T. speciosum really loves to have a cool, moist yet well drained, slightly acidic root run and can fail badly in the hotter, drier counties. It likes to wind its way up into the light and rarely succeeds if planted without any shade to its roots. That said it can grow well in the south, but you need to find the right spot and may have to make several attempts.