I screwed up and didn’t harvest my leeks in time this year. I ate some of the stalks and let the rest flower. And what beautiful cut flowers! White and some had a bit of pink. They last a loong time in vases- through several changes of other flowers.
What happens if I leave them there? Will they flower again next year? Or should I re-seed?
The chives have flowered again this year, and they flower for a long time. Several have flowered twice this year and they retain their color if dried in the shade.
Leeks are biennial. But you say yours bloomed the same year they were planted? Perhaps it’s that your growing season is long enough.
Once they flower and produce seed they are done. Anything left in the ground will rot, as I recall. The seeds are easy to collect and should be viable.
Thank you! You just saved me some time.. Yes, lots of seeds and I can just spread them out. Mild winters here and they grow all winter, even in snow. They’re pretty hardy. We also had summer weather in the middle of last winter for a week and a half, then got cold again.
My leeks flowered and produced bubils (I think they were bubils and not true seeds) that I ignored and they fell in the ground and reseeded. I’ve got a whole patch now. Also elephant garlic has really pretty flowers and I did the same with them. I strongly recommend a whole patch of them! I like them because deer don’t eat them!
And you can buy special alliums that are grown just because of their flowers. They are brighter purple or completely white or more pinky-purple with extra big flower heads. I haven’t done this yet - but have considered it when I saw them for sale. They’re still edible but not really grown for that.
Also, I see you’re in zone maybe 9? Some particular leeks (elephant garlic is actually a leek) may need more chilling than you might get. If you try elephant garlic (which you can break into cloves like regular garlic to propagate) or growing the bubils from a leek you may want to put them in the fridge for a bit before replanting.
The bulbils definitely do self-seed if you leave them. I had leeks seed themselves into a nearby bed almost by accident and now I just let them do their thing. Chives are the same, basically impossible to get rid of once they find a spot they like.