Thursday, May 08, 2008

Rhubarb Flower

Rhubarb FlowerDid you know that rhubarb has flowers? I didn't. It makes sense - most plants have flowers of some kind. Generally, gardeners like flowers on plants where you eat the fruit or the seeds. But they don't like them on plants where you eat the leaves, stem or root. Once a plant has made flowers and set seeds, it stops putting energy into the other parts of the plant. Last year some of my onions did it, and when I cut up the onion bulbs they were all hollow in the middle. So gardeners are alert to plants "bolting" (it means making flowers, often on the end of a tall stalk), and the chop the flowerheads off when they see them.

I've never seen rhubarb flowers before, but this year rhubarb is bolting all over the allotments. It could be that the weather conditions are right for flowering rhubarb. But I've long had a sneaking suspicion that bolting plants send some sort of chemical signal to their fellows. When you let one go, they all start. Of course, that would also happen if they were all responding to the same weather conditions. What do you think? Is my "chemical signal" theory just rubbish, or is there something to it?

Anyway, the wonderfully phallic rhubarb flowers had to get the chop. I winced when I did it, but they had to go, or they would have sapped the plant and I wouldn't get any lovely pink rhubarb to eat and make chutney out of.

10 comments:

Kim said...

Hi Melanie,

I've tagged you on my blog - fancy coming up with six random things about you?

Hope you are enjoying the lovely weather!

Anonymous said...

I discovered rhubarb flowers a few years ago because there was rhubarb in the garden when we moved in here. Not being avid gardeners or cooks we didn't do anything to the rhubarb except watch it (and it gave the rabbits somewhere to hide under its leaves) so finally it gave up being an eating plant and produced flowers. They were huge pink/cream things, and I decided there and then that I'd allow them to stay and adorn the patch on which they grew.

Since then we've had flowers on our rhubarb each year, but what I hadn't realised was that rabbits enjoy nibbling at rhubarb leaves. Oddly, it's not such a big healthy plant now - but the rabbit's grown and is doing very well :)

Fran

Z said...

My rhubarb has bolted too, before I'd even picked any. I don't know if it'll come again if I cut the flowers off.

Melanie Rimmer said...

Cut the flower off, z. You'll get stems as long as you cut the flower off, but you mightn't if you leave it there.

Allie said...

Wow! That's really interesting!

I think your theory sounds about right.

EccentricEmma said...

thank goodness its not just my rhubarb thats flowered. i didnt have a clue what it was! but then i found out i had to snap it off. and that was quite fun. lets hope it works!

Anonymous said...

Last year my Rhubarb flowered (and no, prior to that I had no idea it could flower, and my father in law - who gave us the rhubarb from one of his crowns, had no idea either) - we left it because it was the first year of rhubarb in our garden, so we were being restrained & not cutting any anyway. Am off to cut rhubarb this very minute, to make sure we get some before ours flowers!

Anonymous said...

Each my some of my rhubarb plants throw up flowers - I featured them again a week ago on my blog. I let some flower so that the plant gets a rest, and pick the stalks from the others - alternatively depending on the crop and weather, let the rhubarb flower later in the season.

Amazingly I have one at home in my garden in a raised bed next to an water butt which over flows - and this never flowers.

So my theory is that is that lack of water is a contributory factor at a critical of its growing cycle.

There was not lack of rain here over the winter or earlier on this year up my plot - but it is windy up there and the field is an 'open aspect' and I do heap barrow loads of horse manure of the rhubarb bed too - so maybe too much food?

Love reading your blog - don't get much time to leave comments as often as I would like.

Anonymous said...

My rhubarb plants flower every year (I'm in Michigan) and every year I chop them off and compost them. I read somewhere on the internet you could eat them like broccoli but I am weary since the leaves are not edible.

Anonymous said...

aaaa片, 免費聊天, 咆哮小老鼠影片分享區, 金瓶梅影片, av女優王國, 78論壇, 女同聊天室, 熟女貼圖, 1069壞朋友論壇gay, 淫蕩少女總部, 日本情色派, 平水相逢, 黑澀會美眉無名, 網路小說免費看, 999東洋成人, 免費視訊聊天, 情色電影分享區, 9k躺伯虎聊天室, 傑克論壇, 日本女星杉本彩寫真, 自拍電影免費下載, a片論壇, 情色短片試看, 素人自拍寫真,

做愛的漫畫圖片, 情色電影分享區, 做愛ㄉ影片, 丁字褲美女寫真, 色美眉, 自拍俱樂部首頁, 日本偷自拍圖片, 色情做愛影片, 情色貼圖區, 八國聯軍情色網, 免費線上a片, 淫蕩女孩自拍, 美國a片, 都都成人站, 色情自拍, 本土自拍照片, 熊貓貼圖區, 色情影片, 5278影片網, 脫星寫真圖片, 粉喵聊天室, 金瓶梅18, sex888影片分享區, 1007視訊, 雙贏論壇, 爆爆爽a片免費看, 天堂私服論壇, 情色電影下載, 成人短片, 麗的線上情色小遊戲, 情色動畫免費下載, 日本女優, 小說論壇, 777成人區, showlive影音聊天網, 聊天室尋夢園, 義大利女星寫真集, 韓國a片, 熟女人妻援交, 0204成人, 性感內衣模特兒, 影片, 情色卡通, 85cc免費影城85cc, 本土自拍照片, 成人漫畫區, 18禁, 情人節阿性,

免費成人影音, 彩虹自拍, 小魔女貼影片, 自拍裸體寫真, 禿頭俱樂部, 環球av影音城, 學生色情聊天室, 視訊美女, 辣妹情色圖, 性感卡通美女圖片, 影音, 情色照片 做愛, hilive tv , 忘年之交聊天室, 制服美女, 性感辣妹, ut 女同聊天室, 淫蕩自拍, 處女貼圖貼片區, 聊天ukiss tw, 亞亞成人館, 777成人, 秋瓷炫裸體寫真, 淫蕩天使貼圖, 十八禁成人影音, 禁地論壇, 洪爺淫蕩自拍, 秘書自拍圖片,