Cilantro Flowers, the end of the Life Cycle

This morning I found several flowers on my Cilantro plant.  The delicate white blossoms emerged from the new shoots which hosted thinner leaves more like dill than cilantro.  Cilantro is an annual.  It lives one year and then it dies.  Once it begins to flower, it is nearing the end of it's life cycle.  You can prolong the life of your cilantro by snipping the flowers, but not by much.  The one bright spot is that after the flowers dry, they will produce seeds.  The seeds of the cilantro plant are commonly called coriander and are used as a spice as well.  Coriander has a bit of spicy citrus flavor.

Since the flowering signifies the beginning of the end for my Cilantro, it is time to harvest.  I have been told that herbs are most flavorful just before they flower.  It would seem that most of my herbs flower in the spring.  I have begun taking harvests of my herbs and drying them for summer use.  Harvesting them in the morning seems to be best for retaining the most flavor.  I will leave the flowers on my cilantro plant and let them go to seed.  When they do, I will dry and story the coriander seeds as well.