Nasturtiums – P Cube

   Nasturtiums – 1992

      Now that July has begun and this blog has presented several posts on Roses, its time to move on to the next big thrill. Summer always brings with it many new thrilling movies, to be enjoyed by all generations. If you draw parallels between the thrills of a garden and movies, then perennials would be like old classics. They come every year and never loose their appeal. For example Roses, Hydrangeas, Lilies etc would be in the league of Sound Of Music, Its A Wonderful Life, Dr.Zhivago etc. On the other hand, annuals would be like the summer movies. When planted, they come only once a year. They give you a fleeting pleasure and then fade away from your memory. But that momentary pleasure feels awesome. A very sweet summer film that I saw recently was Kung Fu Panda. The theater was full of preschoolers squealing with laughter!

      Each year I plant some annuals in my garden, to give me the same thrills as a summer movie. This year I wanted to plant something which would need rock bottom care but still give me maximum viewing pleasure. It happens, when you are forty plus Anyway after checking out several annual seed packets, I chose Nasturtiums. The description on the packet had all the qualities I was looking for. It said:

Water sparingly. Easy to grow. Thrives under stress.

      The last line was the absolute tipping point for seducing me into buying it. So I planted half of the seeds in pots and the other half in the ground. Now that the blooms have come, I feel like a science student in a high school’s chemistry lab! The ones planted in the ground got tons of leaves and few flowers. The potted ones have plenty of flowers but few and tiny leaves. Apparently rich, ground soil favors leaves.

      All said and done, the pleasure of looking at them is simply delightful. Their appearance has tenderness written all over them. They make ideal candidates for story illustrations in kiddy books. With their circular leaves and blossoms in primary and secondary colors, they look like preschoolers in raincoats holding baby umbrellas! So as to share this summer joy here is a painting made in 1992 and a few photos of the same. That completes the cycle of Nasturtiums for me from painting, planting to photography ( P Cube), in 2008.

Ratna

   Baby umbrellas.

   Potted version.

   In ground.

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We should enjoy this summer, flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one we’ll see.

- Andre Gide