Kainga, where Roses bloom, life is lived at a gentler pace.Living Simply, doing all those good things like stitching, gardening, cooking and reading.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

"Tuesday's Treasures"- Blasts from the past!!!

Hello and Welcome to Tuesday's Treasures.

I have a couple of Treasures to share today. The first is a cutting from a magazine.


My Mum gave this to me a few years back. Can you guess what is behind the cutting? I will tell you soon.


One of my other Treasure's is the common  Nasturtium. Now these come up each year in the garden. It wasn't until I was having a conversation with someone who had visited a friends garden and she was proudly shown the Nasturtiums growing out the front yard. The lady was so pleased to have them in her garden. It made me realise we take a lot of plants for granted.

So I went looking for information about it and found that Monet, the great French Impressionist used these old fashioned plants along the central alley of his famous garden at Giverny.


The spur of the flower is full of nectar and the bees love this. Children have been known to sip on the nectar as well. I have used the leaves in hamburgers instead of lettuce. The flowers can be thrown into a salad or used as decoration on a plate of sandwiches. The seeds can be pickled in vinegar and used like capers .


So next time you see some Nasturtiums growing in a garden remember that this plant has been around since the 1500's.

Sally  wanted some information about the Sweet Pea  (Lathyrus odoratus) so I will include it in this post.
Sweet Peas are native in the Mediterranean, growing wild in Crete, southern Italy and Sicily since ancient times. The first seeds were to England by Father Cupani a Sicilian Monk. Seeds were first released commercially way back in 1724. Sweet Peas are self fertile and apart from mutations come true from seed. Often the smaller shrivelled looking seeds are the darker colours so don't  discard them because they are smaller. They will grow into beautiful plants. It wasn't until growers realised that they didn't cross pollinate they took steps to ensure cross pollination and improvements in the plant  were possible. Around 1877 Mr Henry Eckford began crossing and selecting Sweet Peas leading to a strain with much larger flowers which became known as Glandiflora Sweet Peas. "Prima Donna" was one of the Glandifloras bred by Mr Eckford and from this a new sport was named which eventually became known as "Countess Spencer" which the famous English "Spencer" peas originate from.
The oldest developed Sweet Pea still in existence is the intensely fragrant,red and white, eighteenth century Sweet Pea called "Painted Lady" The Australian two-toned pink heirloom variety "Bushby" was bred from "Painted Lady".  I hope you enjoyed reading about the Nasturtium and Sweet Pea.

Oh yes, you are probably wondering about that magazine cutting. The page behind has my birth weight and my weight for the next couple of months. I weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces when I was born.

Visit Melody to see who is joining in Tuesday's Treasures this week.

Happy days.
Bev C

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

you have a beautiful garden Bev and what a great post

Michelle Ridgway said...

How cute was the cutting.
Thank you for the info on
'sweet peas'they are amongst my favourite..I adore their perfume. My Mum always grew them at home along with 'stocks'That was so interesting and we do take a lot of beautiful things for granted.

Simone de Klerk said...

Always new treasures to be found in your garden!
A real treasure for you, the cutting your mum saved!

Fiona said...

I love the nasturtiums.. they don't grow too well in my garden. How fun to have your birthweight records on the back of the magazine...
Hugz

rosie said...

Hi Bev, that magazine really was a blast from the past! I found a diary today from when I had my children and a date for when my son first said 'dad'! Of course I put it straight back in the treasure box!!

Melody said...

I love having a blogging friend who enjoys gardening as much as me. I love the way nasturtiums tumble out of some of my half wine barrel tubs. Your gardening knowledge is very inspiring.

Terriaw said...

Beautiful flowers! Those colors are perfect for the Autumn season we are entering here in the northern hemisphere. Wish I had some of those planted in my gardens. Fun to see the vintage cutting. Definitely want to hear more!

Sheila said...

I have always loved nasturiums , and they are rather tasty as I have recently discovered .Interesting to have your birth weight on the back of the magazine .

Christine M said...

That's a novel place to keep track of your birth weight and weights as you grew!

Kathy said...

I savored the information on the nasturtiums. I try to have those grow around my tomato plants! I love that Monet used them in his grand alley path. I think they have a very peppery taste and often put them on tossed salads.
I will have to try sweet peas next season.

Pauline said...

Hi Bev, I've had fun reading back through your recent posts - haven't been around much lately. Love your nasturtium shots. When I was a child my mother always said of our neighbour all she was good at was growing nasturtiums and they grow themselves. Must get some, anything that grows itself is welcome around here. Also enjoyed the treasure your mum gave you!

Jeni said...

I just love your post......i love sweet peas....and i have nasturtiums growing love love them
.....and hoya plants i collect ..
reminds me of my grannie

Kathy said...

Oh I do love Nasturtiums. In most gardens I've had they flower and flourish without any effort from me and provide so much vibrant colour in the garden!

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Oh Bev what is behind the magazine cutting is a real treasure!!! And I didn't know that nasturtium leaves can be used as lettuce...we have these flowers in the backyard...I knew the flowers could be eaten though...Love your Tuesday Treasures...Dzintra

Mitzi Curi said...

I love nasturtiums and sweet peas! Your garden looks lovely. Mine is just reaching the point of no return, the end of summer here. Pretty soon the leaves will be turning fall colors.

Bobbie Lynn said...

A wonderful treasure from your Mom. I just took out my seeds of nasturtium to soak overnight. The two packets are from Botanical Interest called Mahogany and Fiesta blend. I miss them in my garden and they are beneficial in the garden also.

Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend.

Eggs In My Pocket said...

Such a cute cutting. Love the pretty flowers! blessings,Kathleen