Of broccoli and butterflies...

Now I know what happens to broccoli when you let it go - it flowers, beautifully. Delicate pale yellow flowers, as many blossoms almost as their were buds in the head. I broke off a stem, and the plant still tasted pretty good. I was thinking about harvesting it and whisking it into the steamer in the kitchen, but I decided to leave it for this small whitish butterflies that seem to appreciate it as much as I. What kind of butterflies are they? They seem to dart as much up and down as sideways, a lopping kind of movement that's as slow as beautiful. Also, can I harvest seeds from this plant? I bought it at a nursery and don't know if it's hybrid or not.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt S on June 11, 2008 at 11:58am

The butterfly you are referring to is actually a cabbage moth. You will see them hovering around any plant in the cabbage family, including broccoli. They lay their eggs and eventually very small green caterpillars emerge to eat the plant. They only seem interested in the leaves, so for broccoli, you won't have a crop problem. WIth cabbage, they can decimate the leaves and really harm the plants. After telling my kids this, they now chase away any cabbage moths they see hovering over the garden. Despite their reputation for harming plants, they are very pretty animals.
You can also harvest the seeds from the plant, but the plants propagated from them will most likely not carry all the traits of the cultivar you planted. If you want to grow broccoli by seed, I would suggest getting a variety form a seed packet and then collect from those plants when they mature.