Edible Flowers
In The Garden and Landscape
Edible
Ornamental, Herb, and Weed Flowers
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If you're a gardener, and
also a bit of a survivalist, you know you'll be able to stay well and healthy by
just grazing your yard if you grow these pretty edible plants, and you know they're
safe to eat. I grow several of these, and I grow organically. So
pluck-and-eat is how I like to roll.
I became interested in
edible landscapes and flowers decades ago. I used to walk to Central Park
in NYC on weekends, and always walked in the wooded areas, where expert
horticulturists and botanists conducted foraging and wildcrafting tours.
One did just mushrooms, one did green leafy plants, another did only
medicinal herbs. Flowers were more or less ignored because the landscape
in the park was almost all easily -found green stuff at the time. There
was a guide who was all about plant poisons. That freaked me out a
little. I'll also get into foraging and wildcrafting later on. For
now, I'll elaborate on edible ornamental flowers. If you're planning a
flower garden, you might want to plant some of these for your culinary and
herbal remedy use, as well as for purely ornamental reasons. If you plant
in succession, there will always be edible blooms for your taste buds to
enjoy.
You might already have
some of these growing in your garden. So if you grow an organic garden,
and need a snack while you're working in the yard..... eating the flowers
alone, or added to greens in a salad, can provide you with a different
type of nutritional value than other plants, or using the familiar salad
ingredients. A listing and pretty pics
of some edible wildflowers with identification is also pictured at the end of this page. Some of the wildflowers are
popular and many are grown in our
gardens.
Do Not Pick wildflowers growing in open meadows.
Grow
a wildflower garden, mini prairie or a Hell Strip of wildflowers for yourself,
or make sure the property with wildflowers is not private or protected,
and have permission to harvest from it. You will be taking food away from
important and endangered pollinators and wildlife. Some wildflower meadows
and prairies are actually privately owned or owned by conservation
organizations or a government agency. Private gardens or designated
wildflower/pollinator habitats, and the native plants within it, have been
specifically grown for the preservation and conservation of the native
plants and wildlife, and some are grown just to save
the Monarch Butterfly.
There are too many
edible flowers to list here. Just because a flower is edible, it doesn't
mean it will taste good. And it doesn't mean you'll want it in your garden
design. Use one of our theme garden plans, and incorporate these edibles
in it. If you grow an herb garden, choose some edible flower varieties. If
you have a Culinary Kitchen Garden, plant edible flowers among the herbs.
There's really no garden deign you can't include edibles into.
Many "edible" flowers" are only
suitable to decorate a dinner plate or the top of a cake. They don't taste
that great. So, only the
known-to-be-tasty ones, and several I've eaten myself, are on this list.
Lots of plants that
have edible flowers, also have other parts that are tasty, too. That's for
another article.
Remember that some
medications may not jive with the botanical chemicals found in certain
flowers. Consult a botanist, traditional medicine practitioner, or herbalist, and do your homework before
making flowers a part of a natural and healthy diet. This list is for
reference only on which flowers are edible, and it's not a prescription or
advice that you should eat them.
Best thing is eating
plants from your own garden. But if you are foraging, don't put anything
into your mouth if you don't know the health facts. Also, don't put anything in
your mouth that is not absolutely organic, pesticide-free and non-GMO.
There are many test fields on the back roads where poisoned crops of food
and flower species are being grown for research into how to build bigger
flowers, square melons
and tomatoes that won't roll off your counter, flowers that do not get
bugs, and how to make a food last longer on the shelf....and more
herbicide resistant. Frankenfood, synthetically created in laboratories, and test-grown in
far-off fields. Know what you're eating, as with all of your food. Grow
what you eat. Just sayin'.
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Hollyhocks
Hollyhocks are in the mallow
family – and lots of members of this plant family have edible leaves
and flowers.
Hollyhocks are versatile flowers
with a mild, and slightly sweet taste. They can be used as garnishes,
in salad dressings, and other recipes. |
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Sunflowers
We all know how edible the seeds
are. But you can also eat the petals, and the unopened flower
buds can be steamed like artichokes.
Sunflowers come in different sizes, so you can find smaller varieties
to outline the edges of your landscapes.
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Carnations
They taste a little peppery, and a
little like cloves. They can be used in savory salads and in stir fry. |
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Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums have a delicious,
peppery taste similar to radish or watercress and their colorful
blooms look great in a summer salad and as a plate decoration.
It has high value in the garden as
a plant that repels many destructive insects. It is often grown in and
around vegetable plants and gardens for that reason. And because
they're very ornamental.
Both
the flowers and the leaves can be used and have a similar taste. You
can also use the seeds, pickled, as a caper substitute. |
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Pansies
Pansies have a mild lettuce taste
that makes them a popular option for salads. They come in a range of
colors, which look great on the plate, and the whole flower can be
used, which makes harvesting easy.
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Violets
Like pansies, violas and violets
have a mild and slightly sweet flavor. Again, the whole flower can be
used in salads or sandwiches. Candied violets are frequently used in
cake and dessert decorations.
Violet
Nostalgia....
I remember chewing the popular Violet scented gum in the 60's. These
were specialty gums, and the violet had a "fragrance that
refreshes after eating, smoking or drinking". I think I just
liked the neat little box it came in.
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Cornflowers
(Bachelor Buttons)
Cornflowers have a slightly sweet
and spicy clove taste.
They crystallize well, and are
used candied, like violets, and in salads, tea flavorings or for
seasoning ham. |
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Ageratum
- Houstonianum
The fluffy flowers taste like
carrots. |
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Hosta
Every bit of the plant is edible.
In salads and any other way you'd use greens. I like the young leaves
that will grow back anyway, and I roll fillings in the larger ones,
because the leaves on Hosta "Patriot", shown here, are so
darned cute. It has value as a survival super food. Nothing's wasted.
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Borage
- (starflower)
pretty blue flowers taste like cucumber.. They are used in
summer drinks, and in various salads and teas
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Calendula
The
peppery petals of calendula are a fantastic addition to salads, stir
fries, pasta. They're tangy, and colorful in your recipes. The petals
can be used as an alternative to saffron.
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French
Marigolds
Fresh, zingy and citrus-like, the
petals of French marigolds are edible, and are another great, colorful
addition to summer salads. The petals can also be used in
cooked dishes and are also sometimes referred to as ‘poor man’s
saffron’.
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Chrysanthemums
All chrysanthemum flowers can be
eaten, though they can differ considerably in how they taste. Some are
hot and peppery, some much milder, and some even sweet. Awesome in
different types of salads. If you grow a football mum, think of all
the petals you'll have.
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Gladiola
Not only is the Gladiola pretty,
but they're colorful on a plate, and can be stuffed and baked, or deep
fried. The individual flower petals have a mild lettuce taste. that's
great in a salad. |
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Roses
A favorite edible flower of mine.
It's been used for centuries to make rose water, to add a powerful
rose taste to certain dishes.
I've had candied rose petals, and
have added them to my handcrafted teas, and tossed petals on the tops
of cakes. Lot of vitamin C to be had from roses and the hips if
you harvest those in the fall. Rose petals are very ornamental,
however you use them, and they are quite tasty and easy to harvest by
simply holding a basket beneath the blooms and shaking your rose bush
when the flower petals are getting ready to drop. |
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Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle blossoms add sweetness
to jams, jellies, and other sweet treats. It also makes a great
addition to your herbal tea blends. They have a honey-like taste.
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Pinks
(Dianthus)
-Sweet William
The
petals can be steeped in tea, or candied. The petals are sweet, with a
clove taste, but remember not to include the white, bitter base of the
flower when you harvest. There are several varieties and colors of
Sweet William.
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Snapdragons
Snapdragons have a slightly bitter
flavor that resembles chicory.
Good in savory dishes and salads. The pretty shape of the
"snapping dragon" flowers adds decoration and fun to plated
food. |
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Mexican
Marigolds
These flowers taste like
pomegranate. Great in salads, salad dressings, syrups.
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Lavender
Lavender has a mildly sweet, but
strong flavor, and is added to lots of sweet baked goods, teas
and ice cream. Use in moderation - this stuff is really
strong.
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Begonia
- Semperflorens
Flower petals taste like lemon.
Great tossed into a salad or sprinkled on fish dishes. |
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Geraniums
Geranium flowers taste like
grapefruit. All geranium flowers are pretty and taste great in salads,
marmalades, desserts, and cake topping. |
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Chickweed
Flowers
You
can eat the flowers, stems and leaves and they all taste like a mild
lettuce.
It
has pretty little white flowers almost entirely covering the plant,
that make a great addition to your salads. Some consider it a weed,
but I grow a lot of this as an ornamental groundcover, and pot
"spiller". It's another valued survival plant.
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Edible
Flowers of Veggies, Herbs, Weeds and Fruit Trees
Naturally, if you
pick and eat the flowers of fruit trees and veggies, you'll have that
many less potential fruits and veggies. If you grow enough so that you
can spare some blossoms, they're edible.
Elder - The
elder flower is used in a lot of drinks and dishes.
Note: Research
toxicity and amounts. Some parts of certain plants are not good for you.
Despite all the advertisements for elderberry as a miracle remedy, some
parts of the plants shouldn't be used and some amounts are toxic.. I
think only the berries are a problem, not the flowers. I love elderberry
wines, and I have a few Elderberry shrubs (sambucus) but I prefer not
making it myself.
Cherry blossom
is often an ingredient in Japanese cuisine. The blossoms are sometimes
pickled in salt and vinegar, and is also used in traditional
confections.
The flowers of plum
trees, peach trees, citrus trees, and apple trees are also
eaten, but they are mostly used as decoration. I would look up
toxicity of any of these flowers and trees I plan to ingest from the
above-mentioned list, to check for any health issues.
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Dandelion
Dandelion leaves or greens are added to salads, and
their roots can be dried and roasted to create a coffee-like substitute.
It is a little like chickory.
The petals of the dandelion flower
have a mildly sweet taste. There are lots of recipes using dandelions. The
yellow flower is sweet. Flower buds or flowers can be fried to make
fritters, and those pretty little flowers, that can strike horror into
the hearts of grown gardeners and landscapers everywhere, are made into
wines, teas and jellies.
Dandelion leaves are considered
bitter greens. If you like mustard and collard greens, you'll love
these. I pick the very young leaves before a flower stem or bud
appears, because that's only slightly bitter, and it's great when in a
mixed spring greens salad. Then I rid myself of that stubborn weed. |
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Chives
I've grown and eaten plain Chives
and Japanese Garlic Chives and flowers for years, it's a perennial, zero
maintenance, and they're yummy. I snip the flowers and stems and combine
them in salads, add it to stir fried dinners, and throw them, and the
stems, into my slow cooked soup near the end of cooking time. They dry
really well. The taste is a mild onion/garlic flavor. I snip the flowers
off as it grows so it doesn't go to seed anyway, so I might as well eat
them.. These herbs also keep destructive bugs away from other plants.
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Chamomile Flowers
Chamomile is an
herb that has a gentle taste of apple, and there is a mellow, honey-like
sweetness and floral taste, as well.
The flowers are often used to make a
very calming and relaxing medicinal tea. This flower is a member of the
daisy family.
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Squash
Blossoms
A well-known culinary delight, which
can be stuffed with just about anything to create a wide range of
appetizers and meals. Bake, deep fry or stir fry. The male flowers that
you remove from your squash after pollination are a second blossom yield.
These used to be hard to find,
except in specialty shops, because they were not widely known in
culinary circles, and were so perishable. You grew the squash
yourself. Nowadays, I see them in produce departments and farmers
markets. Which is nice, because you don't want to remove too many
blossoms from your garden plants, which become the vegetable.
Squash blossoms
are soft, delicate, and taste mildly like the squash itself. Awesome
floating on a bowl of Squash Soup. |
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Pea
flowers
I'm referring to the flowers on
edible pea crops, like snap and snow peas, not the ones on ornamental
sweet pea flower vines. Although, they might be edible too, as far as I
know.
Delicate, pretty additions to
salads. Like the peas, pods and shoots of the plant, the flowers have a
mild pea flavor.
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Clovers
Both the red and white clover
flowers can be eaten.
They're
edible from root to flower, and you can eat them raw, boiled and
sauteed. A survivalist food item when it's in season. Some
consider it a weed, some consider it a wildflower, I considered it a
lawn substitute. Out with the water-greedy high-maintenance grass lawn,
in with the white clover, sweet=smelling, no-mow lawn. With flowers that
pollinators love.
Red clover has long been thought to
improve blood-vessel health in menopausal women, according to a 1999
study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
The red clover flowers are the
tastiest, and are used in teas, syrups and a lot of desserts. Bees use
it's pollen to provide us with those very tasty clover honeys.
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Resources:
wikipedia
Wild Science |
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