June 19, 2012 - Am I Color Blind?


I planted an entire packet of these, to blend with the shades of pinks and dark reds in the garden........




And I ended up with these..........



They're supposed to be rose colored.  They sure look bright orange to me.  Am I color blind?

I must say, I have purchased Ed Hume seeds for many years, and this is the first time I've ever been disappointed with them.  They have always been my seed company of choice, and will remain so, even if they goofed up!




36 comments:

  1. That is a pretty big color difference. Hopefully it isn't too much of a color clash.

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    1. Daphne, it is. Luckily they aren't planted that close to the pinks/reds, but I did want to compliment them. It is a pretty shade of orange though.

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  2. The first one might have a tinge of pink? Mastershalums (as Pooh called them) might have a real hankering to go native.

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  3. I'm not surprised Granny. Over the years, I have purchased different varieties of nasturtiums and always end up with yellows and oranges. Maybe it has something to do with the acid level of the soil.

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    1. Robin, in that case they should state whether it needs acid or alkaline soil. Ours is alkaline. I made sure to not use good potting soil or fertilizer.

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  4. Doh! I have no clue about flowers, so no idea why they are not the right color. Even if they are wrong, they sure are pretty!

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  5. I have to say I've never seen pink nasturtiums. My guess would be poor colour reproduction when they photographed it/printed the packet, and possibly a bit of exaggeration on their part - like 'blue' roses, which were always some shade of lavender.

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    1. Scyrene, with a name like "Cherry Rose", I would expect them to be the color shown in the picture.

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  6. Yes, I agree, they are definitely orange! Must be a packaging issue. They still are pretty though! Happy Gardening! Mindy

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    1. Ebullient, I wonder if their "Peach Melba" nasturtiums are really peach....or are they orange too?

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  7. Maybe next year you could try this "Cherries Jubilee", http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/flowersN.htm#nast

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  8. The drawing of the "Cherries Jubilee" looks dark, but if you click on the photo it looks like a rose color.

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    1. Elizabeth, I'd like to give those a try! If they turned out orange, I'd just give up ;-)

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  9. Dom't entirely blame Ed Hume Seeds, some blame goes to their supplier. Whoever they bought their seeds from either lost the strain or Ed Hume goofed on the packaging.

    I bought seeds of a pink hollyhock last year from Comstock Ferre Seed. When they bloomed this yeat they were all black! that's two years that I have wasted.

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    1. Ed, I had seeds for pink and white hollyhocks that turned out to be pink, peach and burgundy, but they came from seeds saved by one of my readers. I've read of quite a few seed mix ups this year.

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    2. I would also contact Ed Hume Seed about the mix up. If they are not growing out a sample of the seed this year, they would have no way of knowing about it.

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    3. Ed, I did email them. No response.

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  10. Ahhh...the glories of photoshop. We now live in a world where they do not just photoshop fashion ads. My husband who is a photographer and knows how to photoshop has a great time looking at my gardening catalogs and pointing out how many of the photos have been (badly) photoshopped.

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    1. Coral, I'd blame bad photography if it weren't for the name "Cherry Rose". I've never seen cherry or rose that wasn't pinkish.

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  11. We ordered Jersey Giant tomato seeds from Baker Creek. They are supposed to be pepper shaped paste tomatoes.(long and pointy) They ended up being very round with a flat bottom. Wonder which seeds we ended up with instead. It was quite frustrating.

    I want to try nasturtium but not sure if they will grow here. We have cold winters and hot summers and spring tends to be crazy here.

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    1. Peggi, I can't remember who it was this spring that bought a habanero pepper that turned out to be Hungarian Wax.

      I don't know why you couldn't grow nasturtiums. We have cold winters and hot (up to 100+) summers and crazy springs here. They like fairly poor soil, and don't take a lot of water, and they volunteer like mad every spring.

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  12. Flower photos can be soooo deceiving! They regularly use photoshop to adjust colors to what they want. I had this problem with the Black Bacarra rose when it first became available. The photo in the catalog was black and said it was the first true black rose. I jumped at the chance of having one so I planted it. It was red and not even a particularly dark red. I was pretty angry. I have a feeling this is the same thing you're dealing with. Marketing sucks you in to buy it and then you're disappointed.

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    1. Rachel, at least I was only out $1.99. I'd be really upset if I paid good money for a rose that turned out to be something other than what was advertised!

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  13. I've grown Cherry Rose twice (from two sources) but only really have recollection of one, and they really were pink. (Whirlybird Cherry Rose from Select Seed.) They took over the corner of the garden that year, much to my delight.

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  14. I planted Whirlybird Cherry Rose from Select seed, and they were a lovely pink. Took over that corner of the garden and grew through the fence. Sorry I don't have a picture. But they truely were a lovely pink, not the usual orange or yellow nasty colors.

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    1. Stella, that's nice to know. Thanks, I'll definitely keep them in mind for next year...they're sold out right now!

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  15. Oops!
    But in your garden, ANYTHING looks good, so I'm sure it will work. But wow, I do like the pink ones-maybe next year????

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    1. Sue, maybe. I seldom send for seeds from catalogs, as I'm boycotting the exorbitant shipping costs. That's the main reason I buy ED Hume (other than they are just good seeds). They are available locally, from seed racks, and their mailing costs are reasonable if i want to order on line.

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  16. That is definitely a disappointment, Granny! Your nasturtium are very pretty I know, but not the color shown. Love the seed package artwork...

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    1. Gracie, the color is really pretty. It just clashes with the pinks and dark reds.

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  17. Perhaps it was mispackaged? I have always found Ed's seeds to be decent values and good quality but as a practice don't buy a lot of his because I prefer Territorial in general for a variety of reasons. His seeds are often my back up though when I run out of something or forgot to order an item I really wanted.

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    1. Kitsap, it doesn't match any of the other nasturtium seeds they offer, so I'm assuming what Ed said..."Whoever they bought their seeds from either lost the strain or..."

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