Dill blooms: is it edible despite the flowers?

Initially nothing more than an inconspicuous herbaceous plant, dill with flower formation becomes a real beauty and adorns the garden or balcony with summery color. In many cases, flowers in kitchen herbs give them an extremely bitter taste. Some even become poisonous and can no longer be consumed. Is dill one of these garden herbs or is it edible even though it is in bloom?

Blooming dill edible?

Many herbs become inedible for consumption when they begin to bloom. This is not the case with dill (Anethum graveolens) and is therefore edible even in bloom. However, the flower still has an impact on the culinary herb:

• The aroma decreases in the dill tips
• Blossoms make the herb become drier (higher need for more flavor to taste)
• Consistency gets harder
• Flowering weakens the plant's growth

Flowering hardly avoidable

So that dill thrives and forms a lot of essential oil, which is what gives it its unique aroma arises, the plant needs a full sun, so that many hours of sun fall on it. The disadvantage is that sunlight also promotes flower formation at the same time. If the Anethum graveolens were to stand darker, the full aroma would have to be dispensed with. With full sun a full dillaroma is to be expected for at least a few weeks - without full sun you have to do without it and the plant will not grow lush. Therefore, accepting the bloom is always the smart decision.

Harvest and flowering time

Dill is most aromatic when young, fresh shoots are harvested. The earliest harvest time is between six and eight weeks after sowing / germination. In contrast, there is the bloom, which usually appears in July and August. Since sowing outdoors is only recommended in May after the ice saints, there is not much time between the possible harvest date and flowering. If you only want to harvest the herb, you should start pre-growing in the house at the end of February / beginning of March.

After flowering

Once the flowering period is over, the herbaceous shoots draw "juice" again and the essential oil and aroma it contains increase. You can usually harvest until the end of September / beginning of October. Dill that was sown late can also not bloom until autumn. In this case, the harvest of aromatic shoot tips with the beginning of flowering is over, unless you are satisfied with less aromatic dill herb.

Increase the dill leaf harvest

If dill is in full sun and in ideal soil conditions, it can grow enormously tall. If you want to harvest plenty of aromatic dill herb, sow it early and proceed as described below:

• Trim tips six weeks after germination
• Cut off whole branches from 20 centimeters branch length (promotes new growth)
• Use harvested dill quickly (cut off, it increasingly loses its aroma)

TIP: If there is no direct use for freshly harvested dill, it can also be frozen. In this way, it can be kept for at least a year without losing its aroma, which is the case with drying.

Flowers and seeds

With the flowering, however, further doors open for self-growers, because the flowers and the seeds in them can also be used. The seeds contain flavorings that come very close to those of caraway and aniseed. Salads and sauces can be refined with it and tea can be made against digestive problems. The taste of the flowers clearly resembles the dill tips. They are suitable as decoration as well as seasoning. They develop their aroma more intensely than the dill tips, especially on warm dishes.

TIP: As soon as the seeds turn brown, the ideal time has come to cut off the entire flower. You shouldn't wait too long, otherwise the seeds will fall off, disappear into the ground or be eaten by animals in the garden.