Herbs and Asparagus

Now that the Summer is well advanced, most of my herbs are flowering. When they reach this stage they are more decorative but less useful than when their foliage is lush and leafy.

This is Coriander. The plants have gone very tall and straggly, and there are no useable leaves any more, but the little flowers are very beautiful when looked at closely:

 The Greek Oregano is very pretty at the flowering stage. Later on, when the flowers fade and the seeds begin to form, the flower-heads go all brown and look much less attractive - though if you are going to preserve the herb for culinary use by drying it you should leave it until that later stage before cutting it.

I have masses of Marjoram in the garden too. It is less strongly-flavoured than the Oregano, so we don't use much of it in the kitchen, but I grow it primarily because the insects (particularly the bees) love it so much. The flowers are paler than the Oregano - almost white.

The Asparagus has finished flowering now, and little spherical seeds are forming. They will eventually turn a bright red colour.

The Asparagus fern (its leaves) is really tall now; almost as tall as the frame for the climbing beans, so about 7 feet tall in other words.

The occasional spear (new leaf) is still appearing from time to time, in amongst the mature stems.

I'm not going to be tempted into cutting them though, because I want the plants to build up as much energy as possible for next year's crop. When the weather is dry I give the Asparagus plants a good drink every few days too, for the same reason. If you look after the Asparagus when it's NOT cropping, it will reward you when it IS.