Yes, this is "bolting", when a plant begins to flower and go to seed. Cut the flower spikes off. It will continue to try to bolt, though, because that's what parsley does when it gets hot.

ok will do. Tx!

You may cheat it with cutting off flower clusters for a while, but it will eventually give up even that and die. Flowering signals the end of it growing and entering the last phase of its life. Parsley is a biennial - flowers and dies in the second growing season, though sometimes it happens in the first year if conditions cause it.

The quality is so-so in my opinion once it starts flowering. I personally would let it flower and self-seed. You will have new baby parsley in that location. May sprout this year, maybe next spring. Maybe both.

FataMorgana

Thanks. I'm not sure what biennial means exactly but...I guess so long as I allow some of the flowers to remain and die on their own and drop seeds...that each year I should theoretically continue to have new parsley come up?

Biennial - lives 2 growing seasons. Flowers and dies in the second growing season. Parsley does an ok job at self-seeding. There should be at least a few young plants if you let the plant flower and drop seeds as it will.

FataMorgana

Every year I get little new parsley plants in the strangest places! I love those little babies!
Suzi

I've allowed my parsley to self-seed for the last few years, and I always have plenty. The only challenge has been trying to move it from the vegetable bed on one side of the yard (where it sneaked in from the neighbor) to the herb bed on the other side of the yard. I think I've finally succeeded.

As others have said, it will produce flowers in its second year, and self-seed. Some years all of the little seedlings seem to come up in the Fall of the same year, and other years they don't come up until Spring. If you're lucky, you'll get a little of each, and some of your parsley will get "out of cycle" so that you see blooms on some but not all plants every year...you'll have both first-year and second-year plants in your garden at all times.

I've had a bit of luck with getting my own parsley out-of-cyle, though it's nowhere near 50-50. This Spring was an extremely heavy new seedling year for me, but I also have some second year plants that are blooming now. I think I might manage to get them balanced out within another couple of years.

If you let it go to seed, it will re-seed heavily, and then you'll never want for parsley again.

My parsley plant has the tall shoot but has not bloomed yet. Can I harvest the parsley leaves and allow to bloom or is it too late to harvest now? Can I harvest after it blooms?

You can harvest. But taste before you pick too much. Even approaching the bolt, the taste of many bolting plants change. If it isn't to your liking, let it flower and drop seeds for the start of a new parsley patch.

FataMorgana