Alaska Red Shades · Tropaeolum majus
Deep red trailing flowers that attract aphids away from crops and hoverflies toward the garden. Every part edible. The trap crop that is also beautiful.
Flower Profile · Jamie's Garden 2026 · Santa Monica Mountains · 1,170 ft elevation
| Variety | Nasturtium, Alaska Red Shades |
| Species | Tropaeolum majus |
| Type | Trailing annual · edible trap crop |
| Container | 3–5 gal |
| Garden Role | Trap crop · edible flower and leaf · hoverfly attractor · edge cover |
Alaska Red Shades is a nasturtium selection producing deep red to burgundy-red flowers on trailing stems. The trailing habit makes it ideal for container edges, where it spills and spreads while simultaneously functioning as a trap crop — aphids find nasturtium irresistible, concentrating on the plants and drawing hoverflies and ladybugs that then disperse across the garden.
Every part of the nasturtium is edible: flowers, leaves, and the seed pods, which when pickled are used as a caper substitute. The peppery flavor makes them interesting in salads, on pizzas, and as garnish. Alaska Red Shades adds deep color to an edible garnish that most people have never thought to use.
Nasturtium is the garden's second trap crop alongside calendula. Aphids prefer nasturtium leaves and stems strongly over most vegetable crops. This concentration draws hoverflies, whose larvae are voracious aphid predators. The trailing habit distributes this ecological function across container edges throughout the garden.
| Habit | Trailing · spreading · self-seeding |
| Container | 3–5 gal |
| Maintenance | Essentially none — very low care |
| Self-Seeds | Abundantly — manages itself |
| Edible | Flowers · leaves · young seed pods |
Nasturtium is the lowest-maintenance plant in this collection. Sow seeds directly in containers, water occasionally, and step back. It handles heat, drought, and neglect well. It self-seeds readily and will return in the same containers or in cracks nearby. The Alaska Red Shades selection maintains its deep red color best in full sun.
Nasturtium · Jamie's Garden 2026 · Santa Monica Mountains · 1,170 ft
Nasturtium is the garden's most self-sufficient plant. Once established, it requires almost nothing and gives abundantly — trailing color, trap crop function, hoverfly habitat, edible flowers and leaves. The Alaska Red Shades selection was chosen for the deep color, which photographs well and looks intentional rather than filler.
The edibility of every part is something I want to communicate clearly to the Garden Circle. Nasturtium is not an ornamental that happens to be edible — it is a food plant that also happens to be beautiful. The peppery flowers on a caprese plate, the leaves in a summer salad, the seed pods pickled as capers — these are real culinary uses.
And the trap crop function, again: the design intelligence of concentrating pest insects to attract their predators is the most sophisticated pest management strategy available without chemistry. This garden uses it.
| Variety | Nasturtium, Alaska Red Shades |
| Function | Trap crop · edible · hoverfly attractor |
| Container | 3–5 gal |
| Edible | Flowers · leaves · pickled seed pods |
| Maintenance | Very low · self-seeding |