I have a small herb garden of oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, and tarragon. I use them in cooking, but they have begun to flower profusely. Should I try and trim the blooms off, or let them grow?
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Definitely cut the flowers off the basil. When it flowers, the hormones in the plant make the plant concentrate its energy into building flowers rather than putting on leaves (the leaves are what you want for cooking), and the leaves it does put on will be less flavorful. Trim off the flowers.
You can leave the flowers on the rosemary. Rosemary is actually a shrub that’s supposed to live (and bloom) year after year.
I’m not sure about the others because I haven’t really ever grown them… But I am sure about the basil and rosemary, because I grow them and have researched them extensively. Good luck!
I always take the blooms off of my herbs. I think they change the flavor of the herbs.
For all herbs, you should pinch off the flowers and flowering stems. All the herbs you mentioned (though you didn’t specify French or Mexican tarragon) can also take a severe pruning which may be necessary now that they have already begun to flower.
The plants will all redirect their energy into making seeds instead of flavorful leaves. And once the flowering process has started, especially with annuals like basil, it’s hard to stop other than a very hard cutting back. It’s less critical with the perennials like the rosemary and sage. But even the oregano and thyme will be adversely affected.
You can let them grow towards the end of the season when you may want to let them reseed.