This Girl is Showing Some Leg
It has been crazy HOT weather this past week! Some of your plants may look like this girl and are showing some leg! The heat causes them to “bolt” or go to seed as a survival mechanism. This is a cilantro plant, which seemed to get leggy from the moment I planted it. At this stage, you might as well compost it.
Once a plant moves to flowering and making seeds, it stops growing leaves. That means for the herbs that you want leaves like cilantro or basil, you must trim off the flowers to keep the leaves growing. This will make the plant bushy and not leggy.
You can see that this African Blue Basil is just a bit leggy. I hate to trim the lovely flowers off! But it is a must, if I want the plant to look pretty all summer. The nice thing about this basil is that it will continue to bloom again and again, so I always leave a few flowers to look pretty.
Sometimes you have to choose between leaves or seeds. This is dill. I can let it flower and make seeds, which are beautiful in a jar of pickles. I like to place a whole seed head in the jar. Or I can cut off these flowers and allow the leaves to grow. The dill leaves are wonderful on chicken or baked potatoes.
It is a fine dance between trimming off the flowers to grow more leaves or enjoying the flowers, seeds, and fruit of the plant. Remember that strong heat will encourage plants to bolt early. Enjoy your garden!
Lisa Purdy ND, MH
Healthy Life Solutions
740-689-1111