Which Carrots Flower?

Carrot Family

• Carrots belong to the Daucus carota family. This includes those plants referred to by their common names of carrot, Queen Anne's lace -- well known for its lacy white flowers -- or wild carrot. The cultivated carrot we eat today is a cultivar of the wild Queen Anne's lace.

Varieties

• Carrot hybrids are matched to the type of soil they will be grown in, making for many varieties for growers to choose from. A long, tapered shape and the color orange are the two most-common attributes we envision when referring to carrots. Beyond that there are, however, various sizes and shapes that come in colors ranging from red to white, yellow, and purple, along with the standard orange, as well as small, sphere-shaped carrots. Under the right conditions all carrots can flower.

Flowering

• Unless you are growing carrots for their flowers, you will not see a flowering carrot in your typical garden. Carrots are biennial, which means it takes two years to reach the flowering stage. The foliage needs to die back the first year. The second year they will grow again, this time setting flowers. Reaching heights nearing 5 feet, carrot plants left on their own will be topped with clusters of tiny white flowers.

Veggie or Flower

• The carrot plant cannot support both a tasty carrot and a lush flower. If your carrots are left to flower, you aren't able to harvest the taproot -- the carrot -- to use as a vegetable side dish. All the plant energy goes to the flower and any roots are woody and inedible. Flowers are followed by seed that can be harvested for future seasons, though the seeds may not produce high-quality roots.