The PSB bows out

As many readers will know, the PSB crop was good this year! My plan of having 6 plants of 4 different varieties paid off handsomely, because we had not only a lot of PSB, but also a long harvest season. I have picked what is probably the very last of it this week. Just a few small secondary spears.

Usually, I dig up the PSB as soon as it finishes, but this year, for various reasons it has remained in place a bit longer, and I have allowed the plants to flower.

These pictures illustrate nicely how large a PSB plant can get. This is not a crop to grow in a 12" container!

The mass of flowers is very attractive to bees and hoverflies, so they must be full of nectar. This is a time of year when there is not much food available for bees, so I strongly recommend you leave your PSB to flower if you possibly can.

Though not large, the flowers are individually very attractive too. Just think of them as giant Wallflowers (to which they are closely related).

Now it is time for the cycle to begin again. I will sow the seeds for next year's crop in the next few days.