Plants: Tropaeolum peregrinum - Canary Bird Vine

Apart from common nasturtiums, there is a group of related Tropaeolum species which all make lovely garden plants. Most popular of these is the Canary creeper, an extraordinary climber with deeply divided palm-shaped leaves and heavily fringed blooms that peep from among the foliage. It is not fully hardy, but may be grown outdoors permanently in mild gardens if mulched protectively in autumn. Elsewhere it is grown as an annual, in the same way as a climbing nasturtium. It is best left to scramble through tall host plants.

Flowers, young leaves, and fruit are edible and like its cousin the nasturtium has the same peppery taste. The petioles (the stalk of a leaf) are sensitive to touch and when it touches something it wraps itself around whatever it touches. This enables it to climb like a clematis vine.
Hardy in zones 9-10. In other cooler areas grow as an annual.

Common Name: Canary creeper
Genus: Tropaeolum
Species: peregrinum
Exposure: Full sun

Publisher: Hirt's Gardens