In spite of the drought, the peas look very well and are in flower.
flower-pea
These peas were planted late, in the last week of May.
semi-leafless pea plant
They are a semi-leafless pea, with lots of tendrils which wind round each other and help hold the plant up.
semi-leaflesspea-in-flower
Soon the flowers will develop into the pods full of tiny peas. They can be eaten early as mangetout (the whole pod), or we can wait for the peas inside to grow & eat them as peas.
The pea flower has to be fertilised to produce the pod, but most blooms self-pollinate while still in bud.
The Midwinter broad beans are in flower.
flower-of-midwinter
The flowers are a deep purple.
Midwinter_bean-flower
The midwinter strain of broad bean was developed by Malcolm Allison. The plants are looking very strong and healthy, exhibiting their hybrid vigour.
strong-midwinter-beans
The bottom leaves of one plant appears to have rust, but so far it is not having any visible effects on the plant.
vigorous-midwinter-plants
Malcolm has warned that this strain of broad bean will not yield well. But we look forward to harvesting the purple Midwinter broad beans that will result from these flowers!
Rhubarb flowers should be removed as soon as they are seen.
- Hold the flowering-stalk close to the ground
- Pull upwards twisting the stalk
- Remove the flowering stalk to the compost heap
If the rhubarb flower is left on the plant, the root will be weakened & the stalks will be weak and thin.
Rhubarb (Latin name – Rheum rhabarbarum) often sends up flowering shoots at this time of the year.
- rhubarb-flower
If the rhubarb flower is left on the plant, the root will be weakened & the stalks will be weak and thin.
So, the rhubarb flowers should be removed as soon as they are seen.
- Hold the flowering-stalk close to the ground
- Pull upwards twisting the stalk
rhubarb-patch-March
The tendency to bolting depends on:
- variety – Victoria is more prone to flowering than other varieties
- maturity – older plants are more likely to flower than younger ones
- weather – prolonged high temperatures and drought promote flowering
- nutrition – lack of nutrients makes the plant want to seed
To encourage leaf growth and discourage flowering of rhubarb:
* divide the crowns every 4-5 years to keep them young
* water during the harvesting period if in drought conditions
* feed with well rotted manure or fertiliser in early spring and autumn
* do not totally strip the root – always leave 4 or 5 stalks.
* stop pulling stalks after July, to allow the leaves to feed the root
* do not force each crown more than once every two years
* provide an open, sunny site in the vegetable garden
Although the rhubarb flower may add charm to the vegetable garden, it is not good for the production of rhubarb to eat.
Gloria Bonde grows beautiful scarlet runner beans every year in a window box with a curved trellis rustically made of dogwood twigs that curves over the window box window.
Gloria says “They are so easy to grow. They have a beautiful red bloom.”
runner-beans-in-flower
Beans are so attractive and both flowers & beans come in many shapes & sizes . The new midwinter broad bean has beautiful flowers in shades of pink & red and seeds that are red, or that turn purple at maturity.
Bean flowers are beautiful and so variable. These photos show french bean, broad bean and scarlet runner bean flowers.
french-bean-flower
broad-bean-flowers
runner-bean-flowers
The King Edward Potatoes are producing flowers now. Click the image to
enlarge it.
King-Edward-Flower
flower-potato-KingEdward
The flowers of the King Edward Potato are purple with white tipped petals.
This marrow flower is a great example of how flowers attract insects.
The flowers are:
* very large – with huge petals
insects-on-marrow-flower
* brightly coloured
marrow-flower-centre
* yellow
guiding-lines
* open – with guide lines to the center of the flower, which attract the insects down the petals to the flower centre.
seeding-broccoli
When sprouting broccoli is past its best, yellow flowers emerge from
the shoots. These plants should be removed from the vegetable plot and
put on the compost heap.
broccoli-going-to-seed
The disadvantages of leaving the old plants in the vegetable garden
to flower are:
* *they take up space
* *they harbour pests and diseases, eg. clubroot
* *they may not breed true (give plants with exactly the same characteristics as the parent.)
If the plants are left to flower, the flowers will be fertilised by
visiting insects, and then seeds are produced. The characteristics of
the seed depends on whether the parent is an open pollinated variety or
an F1 hybrid.
Open pollinated plants are varieties that grow true from seed. This
means they are capable of producing seeds from this seasons plants,
which will produce seedlings that will be just like the parent plant.
F1 hybrids – are the product of a careful and deliberate cross of two different ’strains’ and will produce plants that are uniform and have particular charateristics, eg very big sprouts, or bright green sprouts.
F1 means first filial generation.
Brussel sprouts are another brassica which goes to seed like broccoli. Bedfordshire farmers were once famous for the sprouts they grew and distributed to vegetable markets all over the country everyday of the winter. Each farmer had his own distinctive sprouts, which he had
developed over the years by breeding his own seed.
Each spring he would:
- select his best plants, with the traits he wanted in future generations
- these plants would be allowed to flower
- flowering plants were anxiously watched to prevent cross
- pollination (pollen from other plants not selected by the farmer, being brought onto these plants)
- no other brassicas were allowed to flower in the vicinity, neighbours with flowering brassicas were asked to remove them
- bees were closely watched to make sure that they had not found a hidden patch over the hill – it was a tense time
- the seeds were harvested and stored in a cool, dry, safe place to be planted the following year.
- safe storage was essential, to prevent loosing the excellent strain to competing farmers ( in our case, these valuable seeds were stored under my parent’s bed – we had a cold house!)
