Cilantro leaves are fresh, full, and flavorful when weather is mild. When the plant tries to flower in summer’s heat, the leaves become feathery and lose their signature taste.
Knowing how it grows. Cilantro easily grows into a leafy rosette of aromatic fresh flavor that just can’t be replaced by the dried leaves in the grocery spice rack. However, don’t be surprised when the longer days of spring cause the plant to quickly stretch up to about 2 feet tall with white flowers on top. Leave the flowers alone, and within a month or less each white umbel will be full of coriander seeds. That is the “rest of the story” of cilantro, an herb with two equally useful parts.
Because spring makes cilantro grow fast, keep it cut to use the leaves in salsa, pico de gallo, curries, and other favorite recipes. At some point it will insist on blooming. When this happens, let it go to seed so that you can collect the coriander. To keep a crop of fresh leafy plants on hand as long as possible, set out transplants every few weeks as long as they are available. And you can always plant a few of your coriander seeds until the next season of Bonnie transplants arrives at your favorite garden center.
Cilantro is surprisingly cold hardy, so it also makes an ideal fall garden item. Fall-planted cilantro remains leafy rather than stretching up to bloom, because in fall and winter the days are shorter. Plants will over-winter in zone 7b and warmer. In cold climates, they will be fine in a cold frame.
Exactly how do I harvest Cilantro? Should I cut the stems at soil level or cut the leaves off??
I am new at this so Have no experience.
Thank you
You should harvest cilantro by cutting the 6- to 12-inch stems near ground level, but avoid cutting more than one-third of the plant’s leaves at one time, or you may weaken the plant. Learn more about how to grow and harvest cilantro in our article “Growing Cilantro.”
Good luck growing!
Kelly, Bonnie Plants
thank-you for your new $9.98 herb baskets for mothers day. what great combos for a good price, would have never purchased cilantro by itself, because of how much we use each time we cook.
Hi Linda,
Glad you’re enjoying the Mother’s Day herb baskets! We love cilantro, too. For more information on growing it, you can go to our Growing Cilantro page.
Happy growing and happy Mother’s Day!
Kelly, Bonnie Plants