Many edible plants are tossed out once they begin to make a flower shoot, all energy now diverted to fulltime reproduction, away from the edible parts, the end is nigh and it is only weeks before those flowers turn into a seed head and the plant then starts to die. Another sad belief is that plants 'bolting to seed' are ugly and unsightly in the garden. What a shame.
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One of the absolute joys of gardening is watching a plant grow all the way from the tiny sprouted seedling to the mother plant creating hundreds (usually, if not thousands) of seeds to bring forth another generation. And not only do I find joy in this - there are the multitudes of insects that also feed on the flowers and find refuge in the seedheads to consider.
For these reasons I allow edibles to flower in the garden where space and time permit. Finding the offspring of the plants that flowered in the weeks or months to come beginning their own journeys in our garden is very special indeed.
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