Nasturtium Sahin’s Paso Doble

Nasturtium Sahin’s Paso Doble Seeds

(Tropaeolum minus — Sahin’s Series — Takii Europe — Formula Mix)

Nasturtium Sahin’s Paso Doble is a Tropaeolum minus — the Small Nasturtium — in the Sahin’s series, developed by Takii Europe. It is classified as an annual, 30 cm in height, a formula mixture of top-flowering varieties combining dark red and cream color combinations. Uses include bedding plant, full sun, landscaping, pot plant, edible flower, attracting beneficial insects and hummingbirds, and suitable for microgreen, baby leaf or sprouting.

Paso Doble is a formula mix — two separate variety components combined in specific proportions — meaning the dark red and cream tones appear as distinctly individual plants within the planting rather than blending on a single stem.

The top-flowering habit confirmed by Takii Europe is a key performance characteristic. Standard nasturtium varieties often carry their flowers at or below foliage level, requiring deadheading and management to keep blooms visible above the leaf canopy. Top-flowering varieties hold their blooms above the foliage plane — providing a cleaner, more immediately impactful display where the flower color registers clearly against the green background rather than being partially obscured by leaves.

The combination of dark red and cream in Paso Doble is a classic high-contrast bicolor that references the visual vocabulary of flamenco — the dance from which the variety takes its name. Dark red and cream are among the most sophisticated color pairings in the warm-toned spectrum, combining the boldness of deep red with the restraint of cream without the visual heaviness that solid dark plantings can carry.

Variety Details

• Botanical Name: Tropaeolum minus
• Series: Sahin’s
• Variety: Sahin’s Paso Doble
• Breeder: Takii Europe (Sahin’s series — Dutch breeding heritage acquired by Takii)
• Type: Formula mix — two top-flowering varieties: dark red + cream
• Seed Type: Formula mix (open pollinated components)
• Plant Type: Hardy annual
• Family: Tropaeolaceae
• Uses: Bedding, landscaping, containers, edible flower, microgreens, beneficial insect attraction
• Germination: 7–14 days

Key Features

• Takii Europe Sahin’s series — professional formula mixes bicolor nasturtium
• Two-variety formula: dark red top-flowering + cream top-flowering — deliberate bicolor design
• Top-flowering habit — blooms held above foliage for maximum visibility
• Compact mounding habit 25–30 cm — non-trailing, self-contained
• Plain green foliage — color focus is entirely on the flower bicolor combination
• Fully edible — flowers, leaves, and unripe seeds with characteristic peppery nasturtium flavor
• Suitable for microgreens and baby leaf — multiple culinary applications
• Tropaeolum minus — compact, refined species
• Direct sowing strongly preferred — resents root disturbance
• Poor soil preferred — fertilizing reduces flowering
• Outstanding pollinator and beneficial insect value
• Fast germination: 7–14 days at 13–18°C

Plant Information

• Height: 25–30 cm
• Spread: 25–30 cm
• Plant Type: Hardy annual
• Habit: Compact, bushy, mounding — non-trailing, non-climbing, top-flowering
• Flower Form: Funnel-shaped, single, open-faced — held above foliage
• Flower Colors: Dark red and cream — two distinct varieties in formula combination
• Foliage: Rounded, parasol-like, plain mid-green — no variegation
• Edible: Flowers, leaves, and unripe seeds

Germination Instructions

• Sow directly into moist, warm, weed-free soil where plants are to flower at a depth of 0.5 cm. Germination 7–14 days.
• As the seedlings develop, thin to 25 cm spacings.
• Alternatively, seeds can be started in a 7.5 cm pot and kept on a sunny windowsill.
• Nasturtium seeds prefer to be grown in a sunny position in the garden and grow best in well-drained soil.
• Deadhead the flowers often to encourage more to grow throughout the season.
• After the seeds germinate, nasturtiums take between 35 and 52 days to flower, depending on the variety and growing conditions.
• Nick the seed coat and soak in warm water 24 hours before sowing to improve germination speed — Tropaeolum seeds have a tough outer coat that responds well to pre-soaking.
• Direct sowing is always preferred as nasturtiums resent root disturbance.
• If starting indoors, use individual peat pots to avoid disturbing roots at transplanting.
• For Kuwait: direct sow outdoors in October for cool-season flowering from November onward.
• Soak seeds overnight before sowing.

Growing Tips

• Thrives in full sun in poor, well-drained soil.
• Do not fertilize — rich soil or fertilizing produces lush foliage at the expense of flowers.
• Water consistently.
• Deadhead the flowers often to encourage more to grow throughout the season.
• The top-flowering habit of Paso Doble means spent blooms are more visible above the foliage canopy — regular deadheading is more important for this variety than for standard nasturtiums to maintain the clean bicolor display.
• The dark red component of the formula mix may show a tendency to slightly dominate the cream component in warm conditions — this natural variation between individual plants is part of the character of an open-pollinated formula mix.
• Leave some seed pods to mature at the end of the season for self-seeding.
• The unripe green seeds of all Tropaeolum varieties can be pickled as a caper substitute.

Gulf Planting Season

• Direct sowing outdoors: October to November
• Peak flowering season: November to March
• Note: Sahin’s Paso Doble completes the nasturtium collection in this catalogue — four compact Tropaeolum minus varieties covering four distinct color and foliage approaches.
• Paso Doble’s dark red and cream formula bicolor is the most design-conscious of the four, delivering a predetermined two-tone combination that requires no color-matching planning from the grower.
• Planted alongside Tip Top Mahogany in a mixed border or container, the dark red component of Paso Doble echoes the mahogany tones of Mahogany while the cream component provides a pale contrast that Mahogany’s solid dark planting lacks — creating a layered nasturtium composition of considerable visual sophistication from two simple, easy, directly sown annuals.

Garden & Culinary Uses

• Sahin’s Paso Doble is suited to bedding, landscaping, container planting, edible flower use, and microgreen production — the broadest application range of any nasturtium in this catalogue.
• In the garden, the deliberate dark red and cream bicolor formula creates a more formal, designed appearance than the spontaneous color variation of open-pollinated mixes — appropriate for container plantings, formal border edging, and situations where a specific two-tone color scheme is intended.
• The top-flowering habit ensures the bicolor combination is always visible above the foliage, making it particularly effective in containers where the planting is viewed from above.
• As an edible flower, the dark red component is among the most visually dramatic nasturtium flowers for plate garnishing — the deep, saturated red reads with exceptional intensity against white plates and pale food backgrounds.
• The cream component provides a softer, more neutral edible flower for applications where a less dominant color is preferred. Both components share the characteristic peppery nasturtium flavor.
• The suitability for microgreens and baby leaf confirmed by Takii Europe extends the culinary value of Paso Doble beyond ornamental edible flower use — young nasturtium shoots harvested as microgreens have a concentrated peppery flavor that is more intense than the mature leaf, and the combination of dark red and cream seedlings in a microgreen tray creates a visually attractive dual-tone harvest that adds ornamental value even to the growing stage.