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Tropaeolum tricolor is a Chilean climbing tuberous perennial that is dormant in summer and flowers from winter to spring. It is grown for its striking red, orange and yellow flowers, and it needs a dry summer rest and a frost-free spot in cold climates.
Tropaeolum tricolor, the three-coloured Indian cress or Chilean nasturtium, is a species of perennial plant in the family Tropaeolaceae. It is endemic to Chile, where it is called soldadito rojo and relicario.
At the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England, three-coloured Indian cress is grown in a frost-free Alpine house. Large pots with good drainage are filled with a loam-based compost and tubers are replanted each September. The plant soon starts into growth and flowers begin forming in the spring and the plant remains in flower for several months. Propagation is by seed or from the tubers which are often formed at the very bottom of a pot or force their way out through the drainage holes. The USDA Hardiness Zone is 8. In cultivation in the UK, it does not tolerate being frozen, so in all but the mildest locations it must be grown under glass. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Three-coloured Indian cress grows in the cloud forest on the coastal mountains of northern Chile at 300 to 900 metres (980 to 2,950 ft). Further south it grows in inland temperate forests in the central and Los Lagos regions at varying heights. Here it grows on level ground or north facing slopes in full sun or dappled shade. It can endure periods of drought of up to 10 months in the summer. The tubers are well buried and are hardy down to a temperature of about −8 °C (18 °F) and can tolerate short periods of snow cover.
Tropaeolum beuthii · Tropaeolum incisum · Nasturtium · Canary Creeper · Flame Nasturtium · Anu · Nasturtium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tropaeolum tricolor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
