A canola field in England. (Courtesy Harvey Cotten)HUNTSVILLE, Alabama
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Dear Harvey:
My brother and his wife returned from a trip to Europe last month with some wonderful pictures of gardens. One picture of a field of yellow flowers taken just southwest of London I can’t identify. Could you please help me find the name of these beautiful flowers and can they grow in our area? Thanks. – Lynn Q.
Dear Lynn:
What an impressive and beautiful sight! I never will forget the first time I saw these fields of yellow that were just breathtaking when I was on a large tour bus traveling through Belgium into Germany. The tour guide asked if anyone knew what it was and I yelled out “canola”; he immediately replied, “Aha, you are wrong, it is rape.”
Well, I wasn't necessarily wrong, just a bit of wordsmithing, especially since the marketing folks in our part of the world (North America) realized that calling a crop "rape" (or rapeseed) was not that great for sales. On our side of the Atlantic Ocean, canola is the word we use for this crop that is in the Brassica family (turnips, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard and collard greens) and is either one of two species Brassica napas or Brassica rapa.
The term rape or rapeseed came from the Latin word for turnip rapus and has been used throughout most of the world until the Canadians decided to coin the word canola, which stands for Canadian Oil Low Acid, and refers to a type of rapeseed that has been bred to have very low levels of erucic acid in the oil. In Europe, they do not use the term canola but refer to this type of rapeseed as “double-low” or “00.” I can just hear Jethro from the “Beverly Hillbillies” telling Granny he is planting “aught-aught” seed out behind the cement pond.
Regardless of what we call it, the future for canola production appears to be on the rise for several reasons. The product that we want is an oil that is pressed from the black seeds. It is very low in saturated fats, has the good omega-3 fatty acids while also is high in monounsaturated fats. It has received numerous endorsem*nts as a healthy food from all types of organizations and has been included in heart-healthy diets.
Recently, the oil has been touted as an alternative fuel since it can be grown and processed as a biodiesel source. Once again, food and fuel are competing against each other but this crop makes a lot more sense than corn to me as a fuel source if the other economics work out.
The question of can we grow this here is definitely being asked across the South. Historically, canola has been grown in Canada as a summer crop. In the South we can actually grow this as a winter crop and put in a rotation with soybeans just like we have down with winter wheat. More and more farmers are looking at this crop as a way to diversify, add to their rotations and be able to have a higher margin than with other crops.
One of the problems in the South was the lack of a processing plant in close proximity to the farmers. When the seed had to be shipped far distances to be crushed, then margins became smaller. There is a processing plant in Georgia that is working with Alabama farmers and as more acreage is grown in canola, then the demand for a plant in Alabama will increase. Hopefully, we will begin to see more “photographic moments” like your brother saw right here in our own backyard in the not too distant future.
Things to do right now:
Mow regularly (with sharp blades) so that you cut no more than one-third of the grass blade at one time. Bermuda grass may need to be cut every five days if it has been fertilized at the high rate.
Watering is extremely important as we hit the “Dog Days” of summer; this wonderful Southern expression refers to the fact that Sirius (the Dog Star) rises with the sun each day during July and not about our dogs laying lazily in the shade
Apply a liquid fertilizer solution to container plantings to give them a boost.
Harvey Cotten, an author of "Easy Gardens For the South," is the chief horticulturist and vice president at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Writec/o The Huntsville Times, P.O. Box 1487, West Station, Huntsville 35807.
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FAQs
Canola is a crop with plants from three to five feet tall that produce pods from which seeds are harvested and crushed to create canola oil and meal. These plants also produce small, yellow flowers, which beautify the environment. Canola seeds contain about 45 percent oil.
What field crop has yellow flowers? ›
Known as 'canola' in some parts of the world, especially Canada and the US, rapeseed provides a significant amount of the world's vegetable oil, alongside other crops such as palm, soybeans and of course olives.
What is a yellow flower field called? ›
The yellow flower that fills the spring fields is oilseed rape. It's a crop that was virtually unheard of before the UK joined the then Common Market in 1973. But a rise in prices and help from European grants suddenly made it an attractive option for British farmers.
What are those yellow fields in Germany? ›
A view of yellow flowering rapeseed fields in spring in Bavaria, Germany. Rapeseed is grown for the production of animal feeds, vegetable oils and biodiesel.
Is a canola crop yellow? ›
When it is ready to harvest, the plant changes colour from green to light yellow. These tiny seeds are crushed to extrude canola oil. From germination to seed production, the life cycle of a canola plant takes about 3 1/2 months, depending on temperature, moisture, sunlight and soil fertility.
What forage crop has yellow flowers? ›
Yellow-flowered alfalfa is used for dry hay, greenchop, silage, and grazing and has a potential as a summer stockpiled forage. It is a source of nectar and pollen for insects and provides habitat for birds and mammals.
What is a canola crop? ›
Canola is a crop with plants from three to five feet tall that produce pods from which seeds are harvested and crushed to create canola oil and meal. These plants also produce small, yellow flowers, which beautify the environment.
What does a field of yellow flowers mean? ›
Yellow flowers have many meanings, some being happiness, optimism, loyalty, and positivity. Plants with vibrant yellow flowers are some of the most beautiful in the garden.
What does a canola plant look like? ›
What do canola plants look like? Leaves - Like mustard, but rounded, waxy, and a blue-green coloration. Flowers - Yellow blooms with 4 petals. Seeds - Black, spherical seeds that are approximately 1mm in diameter.
Why are fields covered with yellow flowers? ›
That would be Sunn Hemp – a leguminous cover crop that adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil during the fallow times of the year.
A member of the mustard family, canola is characterized by its many clusters of bright yellow flowers and very leafy stalks. The flowers produce small seeds, roughly the size of a poppy seed, from which canola oil is extracted.
What are the yellow fields in Austria? ›
In spring, nature is bursting with colour: fruit trees in bloom in the Innviertel-Hausruckwald region, yellow fields of rapeseed in the Mühlviertel region and fragrant wildflowers in the Kalkalpen National Park region.
What are the yellow fields in the French countryside? ›
It begins right rain and sunshine turn the Vendéen fields into stunning expanses of bright yellow flowers, and a drive through the countryside makes the heart sing with the joy of spring. Rapeseed or colza was born from a cross between cabbage and rape that happened naturally, one of nature's gifts to the world.
What is the difference between mustard field and canola field? ›
Like canola, the flowers are bright yellow. Wild mustard has strong, downward-pointing hairs and is a much hairier plant than canola. Also, in canola, the upper leaves clasp the stem whereas, in wild mustard, the upper leaves have stalks.
What is the bright yellow crop field? ›
That field of yellow flowers is a crop of canola.
What color are canola fields? ›
Every summer, vast expanses of the Canadian prairie in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba turn a bright shade of yellow. The reason: canola fields reaching peak bloom.
What are the yellow flowers in pasture? ›
What's the Yellow Flower in Pastures? I have received several calls the past couple of weeks about the yellow flower taking over pastures. The plant in question is called buttercup. Buttercup (Ranunculus sp.) is a short lived perennial.
What are the yellow flowers in hay field? ›
Cressleaf groundsel (butterweed), Packera glabella, can also be found in hayfields. This single-stemmed plant in the Aster/composite family has well-defined, yellow flowers that look like small daisies or asters.
What plant produces yellow flowers? ›
There's a yellow flower for every season, including highlights such as tiny aconites and scented mahonia in winter, bright daffodils and tulips in spring through to scented roses in summer and potentilla in autumn.
