Nasturtium and Nicotina will grow in 1/4 inch of dirt.

Each year when I plant and start watering these stacked containers, various little plants sprout and grow in the tiny smidgen of dirt caught at the edge of this board on top of the the weed barrier cloth. The roots do NOT grow through the weed cloth, just form a little mat and suck their moisture from the ground beneath. It is surpising how long they will live when I have stopped watering the stacks in the winter, with their only source of moisture being sucked up thru the weed cloth. Here is the nicotina.

And here is the Nasturtium.

awww...jw...that little nasturtium is so pretty...i just love nasturtiums...thanks for reminding me...virginia

That's amazing! They're so cute.

Guess that old expression "Bloom Where Ye Are Planted" rings true right there!....lol I can add to your list of hardy germinators!

We grow lavender here like weeds, and I have lavender sprouting up in the cracks in the sidewalk... and I have had CA poppies sprout in my asphalt...lol We should all be SO TOUGH!...LOL.

Do you unstack those planter boxes to plant it...or just plant in the little corners showing? I bet that would be STUNNING with "Million Bell's cascading from it!

I have to unstack those type stackers to remove or harvest one crop and replant another because they have such small planting sites. Some few shallow rooted plants can be pulled out without unstacking but most of the time I have to unstack and re-stack. Those pots are made by Verti-gro, www.vertigro.com and they do have a slightly larger pot.

Here is a photo of the EZgro pots which have larger plant sites that protrude out and are easier to work with. They are also made of a hard UV protected material also and I can drag some real deep or large rooted plants out of them and replant without unstacking them. However, it is best to just lift the pots off, clean out the old root growth, and replant. www.theezgro.com. One dealer that sells more than one type of vertical growing systems is www.instagarden.com.

Here are some sweet pea flowers cascading out of just two EZgro pots. I was told by one major seed company that I could not grow sweet peas in this part of Texas very well and certainly not in one of "those vertical type systems because they are climbers, not trailers." Looks like they are trailing pretty good and just now starting to bloom.

Jay, Awesome on the sweet peas. When did you plant them? I wanted to grow them here but from what I read I should have planted them last fall. I didn't, and hesitated about planting them this spring. I think I'll wait until fall and give them a try.

Sarah

Sarah.........Those in that photo were planted last Sept/Oct and wintered over easily here in central Texas. We had a really mild winter here though. I have planted some of the shorter ones (Knee High and Cupid) this spring though to see how they do when spring planted. You can see them draping down out of the top pot in this attached photo. They are in the same pot as the Walla Walla onions and the sunflower. :-) Im told that the heat in early summer will kill the sweet peas eventually but they are really starting to put out some blooms now as you can see in the left edge of the photo.

The reason I wonted to grow them is because my Grandfather always grew them when I was a kid and I remembered the fragrance. He lived just 2 miles outside of Athens, Texas which is pretty much the same climate conditions as you have. Give them a tryout.

This message was edited Mar 25, 2009 12:35 AM

Thanks. I know they won't survive our heat, but I thought they would be good spring flowers, and fragrant to boot!

Sweet peas coming on strong......more every day.

More sweet peas climbing the fence. So now we know we can plant them in the late summer/autumn to winter over and bloom in the spring. How well they will bloom and for how long.......time will tell. Here is a photo of some more climbing the fence.

Jay, Keep us updated on how the sweet peas do. I'd be interested so I know what to do for next year.
Thanks. Sarah