Can I plant a store bought carrot for flowers?

[Shadowbob]

I heard you could plant a store bought carrot in the ground to get flowers for beneficial insects; but last time I tried it it just rotted away and disappeared. I tried it again with one that was growing root hairs in the fridge and same thing. I used carrots without tops. Is there anything special I need to do?

Or does anyone know any other easy way to get flowers for beneficial insects? Most sites recommended queen anne’s lace (wild carrot) or angelica (wild celery iirc), but they take 2 years to grow from seed. I may try repeatedly planting radishes, cilantro and maybe turnips and letting them bolt since they flower quicker. A perennial would be more convenient if it exists, but everything I read about only blooms a small part of the year and usually in warm months. The annuals I mentioned are year round including the winter here in California. So I may go with replanting annuals over and over. Does this sound like a good idea or does anyone know a better way?

 

[Chuck]

If you are just going to let everything bolt and thus be unedible, why not just plant flower seeds or plants. I doubt if you will be successful with cilantro or turnips as they are both cool weather plants and I don't know if S. California gets cool enough. Beneficials come to all kinds of flowers, not just vegetables.

 

[Shadowbob]

If you are just going to let everything bolt and thus be unedible, why not just plant flower seeds or plants. I doubt if you will be successful with cilantro or turnips as they are both cool weather plants and I don't know if S. California gets cool enough. Beneficials come to all kinds of flowers, not just vegetables.

Do you know any varieties that grow all year, a lot of the year, and/or would be easy to replant? And most importantly have clusters of tiny flowers which are more likely to attract the beneficials I want. I just listed off some of the more popular varieties (which also happen to be vegetables or cousins of vegetables), but I’m open to whatever is easiest.

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