Tropaeolum majus
Isabella established the annual tradition of hanging cascading nasturtiums from her Courtyard balconies to celebrate her birthday. For many decades, Gardner Museum horticulturists have grown the ‘Gleam' variety, which blooms in a bold orange color that complements the pink stucco walls. 
The nasturtiums make their divine—yet fleeting—appearance in the Courtyard for about three weeks during March and April. It takes nine months of daily disbudding and pruning to grow nasturtium vines to over 30 feet long, laden with blooms. The plants, trained up the walls of a greenhouse towards the sun, are draped upside down when they are installed in the Courtyard. Within hours, the nasturtiums’ delicate round leaves turn, pivoting towards the light from the atrium glass.