Dill is a popular herb, cultivated for its delicate, feathery foliage and distinct flavor (dill weed), which enhances a variety of dishes. Many people observe their dill plants developing yellow flowers, a natural part of the plant’s life cycle known as “bolting.” This signals a shift in the plant’s energy and offers gardeners several choices.
Understanding Dill Flowering
Dill’s natural tendency to flower, called bolting, shifts its energy from leafy growth to developing flowers and seeds. This survival mechanism ensures reproduction under changing environmental conditions. Factors triggering bolting include rising temperatures (consistently exceeding 80°F/27°C) and longer daylight hours (photoperiodism).
Maturity also plays a role, with dill naturally flowering around 40 to 50 days after planting. Stressors such as inconsistent watering, allowing the soil to dry out completely, or transplant shock can also accelerate bolting. When dill bolts, the plant’s stem thickens, and the foliage becomes sparser and smaller as energy is redirected to the reproductive cycle. The flavor and texture of the leaves can change, often becoming more bitter and tougher, which may be less desirable for culinary use.
What to Do When Dill Flowers
Once dill flowers, gardeners have a few options depending on their goals. To prolong the harvest of fresh dill leaves, cut emerging flower stalks. This redirects energy back into leaf production, extending the period for collecting foliage.
Alternatively, allowing the plant to go to seed offers different benefits. Flowers will develop into seed heads, which can be harvested as dill seeds for culinary use. To harvest seeds, wait until seed pods turn brown and are completely dried on the plant, then cut the dried flower heads. These flavorful seeds can be used as a spice or saved for future dill crops.
Preventing Premature Flowering
To extend the leafy harvest and delay bolting, several proactive measures can be implemented. Succession planting, sowing small batches of dill seeds every few weeks from early spring to mid-summer, ensures a continuous supply of fresh leaves as older plants bolt.
Dill prefers full sun, but in hot climates, partial shade can prevent premature flowering. Maintaining consistent soil moisture is important, as drought stress can trigger bolting. Dill thrives in well-drained soil that is not overly rich.
Regularly harvesting outer leaves and pinching off emerging flower buds can encourage bushier growth and delay the plant’s shift to seed production. Some dill varieties, such as ‘Dukat,’ ‘Fernleaf,’ ‘Hera,’ ‘Greensleeves,’ ‘Tetra,’ and ‘Hercules,’ are slower to bolt, offering a longer harvest window for leaves.
Utilizing Dill Flowers and Seeds
Beyond leaves, dill flowers and seeds offer distinct culinary and ecological advantages. Dill flowers, with their delicate yellow appearance and subtle flavor, serve as an edible garnish for salads, seafood, and sauces. They are also used in pickling brines, adding a unique aromatic quality to preserved foods. Infusing dill flowers into vinegar creates a flavorful base for vinaigrettes.
Dill seeds, once harvested and dried, are a versatile spice with a sweet, aromatic flavor, similar to caraway or anise. They are commonly used in baking (breads, cakes) and pickling (cucumbers, other vegetables). Dill seeds also enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and various meat and vegetable dishes.
Dill flowers attract beneficial insects like ladybugs, hoverflies, lacewings, and parasitic wasps, which help control garden pests such as aphids and spider mites. The plant also hosts Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.