That looks normal to me for curly parsley. That one stalk that is taller than the rest will probably be flowering soon. Try growing giant Italian flat leaf parsley and see what happens!

Vegjoe, that's not a flower stalk IMHO. It has the 'celery' cross section and no terminal bud. Flower stalks are round.

It sure isn't flat leaf.. Not sure if the color is correct, but it looks like the soil needs a bit of iron, to get the darker green color.

It's average size. It can get bigger. And yes, it's a bit on the pale side.

Oh yes, it CAN get MUCH bigger. It looks like it's suffering from an iron deficiency, though...I agree.

I have a monster size curly-leafed growing in the backyard that came from last year. And I'm using it this year after hearing Ina Garten on the Food Network prepare a recipe with flat-leafed Italian, and saying that if all you have is curley-leafed go ahead and use it there is very little taste difference.

In fact, one would be particularly challenged to pick out the curly-leafed variety vs the flat-leafed variety if minced exactly to the same consistency and sprinkled over a pasta dish or used in a sauce. Even your parsley "snobs" would be shocked at their own taste buds.

Which reminds me, unrelated to herbs but interesting, of a taste-test 20/20 did recently with vodka on people who considered themselves vodka experts...snobs if you will. Going only for the high-end vodkas like Grey Goose and Belvedere.

I had to LAUGH AT LOUD (and did!) when they taste tested five different brands. All in shot glasses, all at room temp. They all wrinkled their noses up at the first one saying it was "bitter" and how they would "never buy that vodka". Turns out....it was Grey Goose. LOL! I love it when "snobs" of any sort are exposed for the phonies they truly are....going only for price of vodka and the bottle design. It's interesting, because the government's criteria of vodka says it should be "odorless, colorless, and tasteless". I mean, how big of a difference can their be? I think I would still stay away from the vodkas in the plastic bottles, though...lol. You know, the $8.95 bottle? There is a chance it might end up tasting like lighter fluid. There's "cheap", and there's the middle-of-the-road where most all others fall and you cannot tell the difference.

So you Grey Goose's out there might wanna grab the Absolut or the Smirnoff next time. You won't notice the difference. And especially if served with a mixer, and not on the rocks, which people seldom drink vodka that way.

Sorry, not herbs. But pertinent, I think. Curly-leafed, flat-leafed Italian.....if you think you can tell the difference, you're probably mistaken. It's all in your head. And if you say you can tell, then you're "one of them".

Non-herb reply...Ya know just because one group of snobs are fake doesn't mean that we are all fake!! :) I don't drink booze any more but I can surely taste the difference between a cup of "coffee crystal" coffee, grocery store cheap coffee and my home roasted Kenyan AA.

Then again I remember the story way back when that 2-buck-chuck was winning wine tasting awards....