Unwanted flowers

Usually I'm pretty happy to see flowers blooming in my garden. Although foliage is what really makes a garden beautiful (in my opinion), it's also important to add colorful blooms to the mix. Sometimes though, flowers are just not welcome.

For instance, this cilantro. Although I used to hate cilantro, we can't get enough of it now in our house. Unfortunately it bolts (flowers) when it gets too hot. We always seem to get an early hot spell that makes the cold-loving edibles flower too early.

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Fortunately, we also love using coriander (the seeds), so seeing this go to flower isn't too devastating.

Besides, I've got several more smaller cilantro plants waiting to be repotted, and there are several volunteers in the area around the deck this year -- which was a nice surprise!

Some other unwelcome flowers in my garden right now:

Pleioblastus fortunei. Bamboo flowers often signal the end of the plant's life.

Fewer flowers than last year, so maybe it will survive.

Minowase white radish. Didn't get to harvest any. I'll try again in the fall.

Chinese cabbage. We ate 2 of the 4 huge heads but couldn't get to these
before they started flowering. I may still see if the leaves are edible.

Broccoli. The rainy days made me miss a few heads.

Mizuna. Delicious, but turns bitter after flowering. Again, I may still give it a try.

Phyllostachys glauca 'Yunzhu' bamboo. Started flowering last year.

'Yunzhu' again. How many years before it dies?
It's just starting to put on some size too.

It's not all bad news -- there are also some welcome flowers too, like the peas:

Well, tomatoes too, but that's a pretty short list. The wanted blooms are in the minority in the veggie garden right now, but that will change in the next few weeks as the heat-loving plants come into their own.

I always feel bad about pulling up the veggies that are flowering, as pollinators love the flowers. So I leave them in place until I absolutely need the space. That's why I get so many volunteers in my veggie beds. Those are usually not unwanted, just growing in the wrong place.

I have to admit that the end of the cool-season crops always gives me mixed feelings. I hate losing plants to bolting, but I also feel some sense of relief -- it means I can stop worrying about slugs or other leaf-eating pests eating my greens now.

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