Flowering Parsley?
The last couple days I had a few friends ask me about their parsley. It’s getting a thick stalk, starting to flower and they want to know what do with it (see pictures above). Depending on what you want, there are few options for you. Parsley is a biannual, meaning it produces lush leaves the first year and the second year it will go to seed. So, by design, it gets leggy, the stalk will get woody and the leaves are stronger almost bitter in taste, the second year. The first question you need to ask yourself is, “Do I want more parsley plants?” If the answer is yes, let it flower and produce seeds. The seeds will scatter and you will see new plants emerge from the earth. Maybe this year, maybe not, but next spring for sure. Parsley seeds are very, very small. Once the seeds are established you can cut the seed head off and scatter it in a controlled area.
I find if you cut off the flowering stalk because you do not want it to go to seed, it will continue to try and produce seed. Remember it is determined to procreate and it will continue to flower even after being cut. Your final option is; if you really don’t want anymore parsley plants, rip it out, root and all. PS. you can eat the parsley root if you like; it’s in the carrot family. I rip out the parsley that is going to seed since my parsley bed is crazy! Remember I have so much parsley that I take bags of it to my local Greek restaurant! My friends pet rabbit loves parsley. She doesn’t care if it’s old.
