Sunday 4 September 2016

Rocket Flowers

At the beginning of Spring, it is the simple white flowers of leafy, spicy Rocket (Arugula) heralding the change to a warmer season in our garden. Cross-shaped blooms, four veined petals in each, sway in the breeze atop the long, thin flower stalks these salad greens are sending skywards. These beautiful blossoms are edible and, just like the plant's dandelion-like leaves, they add a pungent peppery "kick" to salads.


The simple, beautiful and edible blooms of Rocket.

It isn't their spiciness attracting our native bees to these flowers though. Rather, these simple, unruffled flowers give them easy access to pollen and nectar.  After finally cutting back the basil "supermarket" our native bees had been foraging in, letting the Rocket flower and go to seed has provided an alternate feast for these tiny, busy little creatures.

 A little native bee gathering pollen from a Rocket flower.

After these pretty flowers are spent, plump, bright green seed pods form. Encased within are the developing seeds.  When these pods are dry and brown, I will pick them and collect the little brown seeds hiding within. Then, I will have free Rocket seeds to store and share and scatter next year.

Plump seed pods form after the flowers.

Saved seeds mean more rocket next year. More rocket means more of these simple, sweet flowers which means more seeds and then, again, more rocket and in turn more flowers. Our native bees (and me) will be happy indeed:)

Meg




6 comments:

  1. I love the look of rocket flowers. My plants are flowering now, not that you can really call them plants, grown from seed they got to seedling size and sulked all through winter and as soon as the weather started to warm up they started to flower.

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    1. Oh, they've bolted on you, Jan. At least you can pick the flowers and add them to a warm weather salad:) Meg

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  2. I love rocket but used to find it got too peppery if I didn't keep the water up when we were on the farm. But the flowers are great added to salad.

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    1. I like the young leaves of Rocket. Sometimes, I find the older leaves a bit too peppery. Meg

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  3. I have never tried eating rocket flowers, mine are yellow, but I do love the leaves. They grow like a weed in my garden I always have a constant supply.......the seeds seem to scatter themselves!

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    1. Now you'll be able to add flowers to your salads too:)

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