Question
i planted flowering cabbage last summer and let it go all winter with no trimming(i wasn't sure i thought it would die in our cold winters) now this pretty spring it has grown tall,sideways and is blooming yellow flowers off the top. can i cut them way down now or let them be out of control and trim them down in fall? they look ugly like this
the stem's are really long and that is why they are sideways

Answer
Behold the Biennial Bolted Cabbages.

Yes, your Flowering Cabbages have Bolted.  You've heard this word.  Now you see it in action.

'Bolting' is when certain plants hit a growth spurt and go into seed-making action.  Flowering vegetables like Cabbage, Lettuce and Spinach contain built-in light-sensitive proteins that actually count the hours of straight, uninterrupted darkness to monitor the season -- sort of like a calendar/alarm clock.  Bolting is also standard operating procedure for plants in the Cabbage family after they've endured a cold spell (winter) or a heat wave (summer).  If you had planted new Flowering Cabbage in the Spring, they would probably be bolting around the middle of July.  This is the most natural thing in the world.

Unfortunately, this life-in-the-fast-lane depletes energy reserves.  The plant flowers, sets seeds, and then looks ugly.  Nobody wants this to happen.  And no, you can't do anything with these to make them beautiful again.  This is a Biennial plant.  The show is over.

They are nevertheless quite beautiful, don't you think?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER