Tropaeolum notes
Rodger Whitlock (Fri, 10 May 2013 17:51:02 PDT)

On 10 May 2013, at 8:04, Nhu Nguyen wrote:

Does anyone grow Tropaeolum speciosum? I love this species but I have not
come across any seeds for sale/trade. When I was in Scotland, they were
growing all over, even in someone's abandon front yard.

I have a big pot full of it. In a pot because it's never established in the
garden, perhaps due to my heavy damp soil. It never flowers, perhaps for lack
of light.

There is (or was) a house here that had it scrambling up through a big conifer
they kept clipped in a sphere.

This house, I think:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=48.44459,-
123.325138&spn=0.010234,0.019269&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=48.444592,-
123.325291&panoid=Z_EuKw-nJFS3vjRsK-uCIQ&cbp=12,164.77,,1,5.67

but it looks like maybe the bush is gone.

The key thing is that this house is situated in an area with very sharp
draining, sandy soil.

I've seen plantings of it around Victoria that set seed.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Z. 7-8, cool Mediterranean climate