Parsley growing question

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taxlady

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I planted flat leafed parsley last year. Much to my surprise, it came back this year. I read a bit about parsley and it turns out it is a biennial. The second year it grows flowers (none yet) and gets tall and loses it's leaves and dies.

My question is: are the leaves good for culinary purposes before it flowers?
 
Yes hey are. Until it goes to seed (flowers) you can use the leaves.
 
I planted flat leafed parsley last year. Much to my surprise, it came back this year. I read a bit about parsley and it turns out it is a biennial. The second year it grows flowers (none yet) and gets tall and loses it's leaves and dies.

My question is: are the leaves good for culinary purposes before it flowers?

Yes!

Dont be surprised if it comes up every year, since it may have dropped seeds.
 
DaveSoMD said:
My dill self seeds every year.

Mine too, along with other surprises! I have lettuce and carrots from last fall coming up now! We had a pretty harsh winter.
 
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Some years I get two years out of parsley, but after particularly harsh winters the plant doesn't recover. I use the leaves as long as they are there. This is the first year that my dill didn't "volunteer". Since my husband, on a weed killing spree, put down a lot of Preen, I actually had to buy a dill plant! But my sage is the gift that keeps on giving. I bought the sage plant when we were on the road ... that means something like 12 years ago. Transplanted it into my current herb garden 10 years ago.
 
Our parsley plants just die off after so long. The leaves start turning a beige-white and then the plant just croaks. It's happened time and time again. Doesn't matter if they are in the ground or in a pot. Don't know if it's that the heat finally just gets to them or they just have a "shelf-life." I've never timed it to see how long they last but it's always been well over a year, probably closer to 2.

Unfortunately, sage doesn't make it thru the summer here either, no matter how much water it gets.

Our rosemary, however, is going strong. I keep having to cut it back so it doesn't completely block the sidewalk or the entryway at the front door. It's probably 3' in greatest diameter and 2-1/2 feet tall at its highest.

Basil just gets too woody after a while here even if it gets enough water. We have regular and Thai basil growing. The Thai basil plant just keeps re-seeding itself. With a little precursor to the start of our rainy season a couple of weeks ago, we've had a couple of new Thai basil plants pop up and they are growing strong. It's like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going, think it's been 4 years now since we first started growing it. Once I can see the plant is starting to go, I'll quit pinching off the little blooms and let them flower and re-seed themselves, and then pull the old plant out to make way for the new ones. The regular will re-seed itself too, though no where near as aggressively as the Thai seems to.

Thyme usually doesn't make it thru the summer heat either, just can't handle it.

Oregano has to be potted here. Learned that the hard way. Even in the pot, it will still put out roots and start growing in the ground. I sat the pot on a large flat stone this last time.
 
I have an abundance of Greek oregano...it does take over <g>. I've divided it, given it away, moved it to the farm, etc., I do like that it comes back. I also dig some of it up and bring in the house for the winter.
 
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