Flowering, in and of itself, is a gorgeous act...but

But sometimes bolting, a gardener’s term for flowering, is what we’re trying to avoid

If you have grown a little garden chances are you’ve experienced planting arugula, lettuce, spinach, flowers, anything really and it bolts sooner than expected. This means that the plant sends up a stalk and flowers before it’s frankly big, leafy, and lush enough to harvest anything. 

This happened to my queen anne’s lace and clarkia flowers this year. I’d say a good fifty percent of them are miniature versions of what grew last season. The result: a stunted little plant which, because of circumstances I’ll go into shortly, channeled its energy into flowering and setting seed. Ultimately ensuring reproduction rather than vegetative bounty.  

A few things are happening here. First the plant likely got off to a rough start. Stress is real and it doesn’t apply to just us humans. Maybe it was not watered enough when it was still in its seeding trays or when it was newly transplanted. Perhaps the temperature got really hot, really fast. Or it may be in a location that’s not optimal. Even in a small garden there can be so many different microclimates. I’m constantly looking around as plants mature as to how everything changes. Because it does.