My snow peas have very strong tendrils. Maybe you could help them with some soft ties like yarn or old panty hose.

wildrose

Wildrose, thank you for answering. The thing is that I already have an area with some horizontal fishing lines and will use that for both snow peas and snap peas. I was hoping to grow another veggie so that I get more varieties during the fall/winter months. It looks like everyone is growing peas though ..

ieozok,

Would nasturtiums grow in your climate through the fall/winter? The leaves add a peppery zhang to salads, and there are varieties that vine. Something to check out anyway.

I tried growing nasturtiums over the summer, but I had VERY low germination rates. I'll try again next year.

Oh nasturtiums! They certainly will grow during our autumn/winter, but will they climb up a metal fence ? I'm not sure which varieties will do that, I had the 'Whirlybird series' during Spring but they're mounding forms.

mcStargazer, how hot is your summer ? Maybe you should grow them during Spring too ? Like winter-sow them during December and then transplanting by end February. Will that work ?

When choosing my seeds this year from a discount store, I had to look VERY carefully on the backs of the packages. It seems that most people want the clumpers and finding a climber was a trick. On the other hand, its been my experience that seed catalog entries will often describe the plant's habits more clearly. As an example catalog entry, here is a link to Bountiful Gardens seed catalog entries for nasturtiums.

I planted my nasturtium seeds late in the spring and only one came up after about 4.5 weeks! It died. Maybe it was the heat as you suggested, or maybe the seed was bad? Perhaps your suggestion of starting them early in pots and then transplanting viable plants to the garden will work for me next year. I've eaten them before and enjoyed them, so I'm eager to figure out how to get it right!

Territorial Seed Company has a variety of nasturtiums called "Tall Trailing Mix" that gets 8-10 feet tall. I think that any nasturtium would not naturally "twine" but with a little training and maybe tying it should go up the fence just fine.

Thanks for the sources mcStargazer & josheug. I was searching the web for climbing Nasturtium, and got distracted by Tropaeolum ciliatum which is also called Hardy Climbing Nasturtium. :-) That's a very tempting plant! But I need a veggie, so I guess I'll be browsing through the catalogs you guys mentioned in time. Thanks again.