I think by edible, they sometimes mean 'won't make you sick if you eat some' but not necessarily tasty. Good garnishes maybe.

Nell

I've used quite a few as garnishes and I have used flower petals from daylily, fuchsia, johnny jump ups, nasturtium, chives, calendula and hesperis in salads more for a bit of color than taste. A

I know squash blossoms are often stuffed and eaten. I've only had the Nasturtiums myself..besides chives. For some reason I didn't get the link. Could you post it again?
Joann

Hummm...that link was there earlier. Lets see if it stays put now.
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: 'edible' flowers

Borage flowers have a great cucumbery flavor. Growing those from seed as well this year.

I've frozen Viola blooms(the small Johnny Jump-ups)in ice cube trays then used the cubes in lemonade, etc. Mostly for show. Just bought a pack of borage seed,it will be my first time growing this herb.

If you grow borage, you will have it forever!! It is not invasive, but like dill, self-seeds freely!!! I must get some for this garden. I have used borage flowers to grace gins and tonics in the summer - very cool looking. I have used nastursiums in white wine glasses, it does not make the wine tast peppery, but sure looks pretty!! Violas in a salad!! Gorgeous!! They are great ice breakers/conversation starters!!! I'd like to try rose petal jelly some time.

Nancy.

Besides Squash blossoms, the ones were generally eat are BROCCOLI & CAULIFLOWER (which are flower buds). You can also eat RADISH, MUSTARD & Nasturtiums flowers (peppery tasting) :)

The way to use Calendula flowers is to tear the petals from the flower and just sprinkle them on a salad - either lettuce salads or fruit salads, to add their COLOR not for their taste.

You can toss Chamomile flowers (taste like apples) in fruit salads, if you like their taste - the texture is what I don't care for, but they are a good source of vitamins.

Dandelion flowers are very sweet - they have a honey-like taste. You can eat the whole plant, but the flowers have a lot of vitamins, esp. vitamin C, and the leaves are packed with vitamin A and minerals.

I have frozen the following flowers in small cocktail ice cube trays (are they considered antiques now?) and in large rings to float in party or wedding punch using a fluted jello pan or bundt pan:

Calendula flowers, rose buds and rose petals, bachelor buttons, nasturtiums, violet flowers, orange & lemon & etc citrus blossoms and chamomile.

You can make Rosewater extract for flavoring cookies and cakes by fermenting rose petals in vodka or gin for two weeks at room temps - strain and bottle.

Or, for a non-alcoholic rosewater (infusion), pour boiling water over petals, enough to cover the petals and cover with a snug lid. Allow to stand. Place the cooled mixture in the refrigerator overnight to infuse. Strain. Freeze whatever you don't use within 24 hours.

Pour rosewater infusion into your hot bath for a heavenly scent. (rosewater for dry skin and lavender water for oily skin) Lovely combined.

To make a rose syrup, add sugar and boil until the sugar dissolves and syrup thickens a bit. Makes a pretty pink syrup that is absolutely delicious.

Rosewater was originally the extract used in all baking until the advent and/or availability of Vanilla Extract. Many countries still used it instead of vanilla.

You can also make wine from rose blossoms. :O , but it takes bushels of petals to make just a little batch of wine. EXPENSIVE!

I make Lavender sugar by placing either Munstead or Province Lavender flowers in a jar of sugar, screw on the lid and allow the lavender flowers to flavor the sugar for several days. Delicious sprinkled on freshly baked sugar cookies or on lemon pound cake. It is lovely in hot teas. (I like hot Earl Grey with a slice of fresh lemon).

~ Annie

Christinmk,
I absolutly love edible flowers -- so much so that they are what my garden focuses on!

My favorites are (and some of these are on my wish-list):

Dianthus plumarius 'Duchesse of Westminster' (Logee's), 'Inchmery', 'Mrs. Sinkins', 'Rose de Mai', (Canyon Creek Nursery); and 'Sonata' (Seed-strain hybrids that bloom first year from seed, and all summer long (I got mine from Thompson and Morgan)).

Lavandula angustifolia 'True Lavender' -- I got my seeds from Burpee. This seed strain has the finest flavor I have ever tasted.

Jasminum gradiflorum, sambac, and officinale -- (I have only used sambac, which is my true favorite but definitely needs to be protected north of zone 10) (I got mine [Grand Duke] from Logee's)

Viola odorata -- Parmaviolets and 'Lianne' (my favorite) -- from Canyon Creek Nursery

Roses -- I would definitely recommend the once-blooming old world cultivars that are used for perfume distillation: 'Summer Damask' (from Vintage Gardens when you're lucky enough to find it in stock); R. centifolia 'Cabbage Rose'; Rosa centifolia muscosa 'Old Common Pink Moss' (I got mine from Rogue Valley Roses); and R. alba 'Semiplena'.

Syringa vulgaris -- (especially the species version 'Old-Fashioned Lilac') These should do VERY WELL where you live! (I use the hybrids for mild winter zones ['Lavender Lady' and 'Blue Skies']; because my 'Belle de Nancy' bloomed well, but didn't grow very nicely.)

Good luck with you edible flowers!

And by the way, you can eat fragrant pansies too!

Oh yeah -- I also like herb flowers like catnip, applemint, lemon balm, and Cilantro!

Thanks you two for the great info!

-Annie, oh! Rose cocktails!! Count me in!
In my herb book they also made a drink using Elderberry flowers. They said the yeast in the flowers makes the drink fizzy. Do I hear a party comming on? ;-)

On that gardening show they also made rose syrup and put it into an ice-cream maker with yogurt. Looked good.
Have you ever tried herb/salt mixtures? I tried making chive salt a few years ago, but it didn't turn out well. The recipe said that you had to bake the salt and chives together. I think baking it took all the flavor out. I wonder if it would work to just put the raw chive foliage (and flowers, to make it look nice!) in a jar of salt? Maybe the salt would draw out the moisture but leave the flavor?

-floweryearth, thanks for posting! I would love to see a picture of your edible yard!

Will almost any kind of Dianthus work (excluding Sweet William perhaps)? I have Carnations and several other types. Could you maybe say that any kind that smells spicy could be used?

Lol! Yes I think Syringa would do very well in this area. Our city (Spokane) is called 'The Lilac City'. They have a lilac parade every year downtown.

Do any of you have experience with Fennel? I saw it used ornamenally at a local public garden and love the look of it (another plus is that it is edible!). I read that the flower buds can be eaten too.

Great ideas and info!
CMK

My mother used to decorate spring cakes with crystalized violets. She would take the flowers from the common blue violet and dip them in a sugar water solution to grace the top of the cake.

Yes, crystallized violets and borage flowers are lovely on cakes and cupcakes, and violets are a great source of vitamin C. They taste just like they smell. Yum

Great topic ladies! One more to add that wasn't mentioned is scented geraniums. I currently have several different cultivars of rose scented geraniums, and used to have a gorgeous variegated lemon one that did not make it thru hard freezes we had here several yrs ago :( it was a favorite of mine too, very lemony!!! Great in teas or baking scones, cookies and cakes, & for cake decorating.
:) Becky

When I lived in Miami, I would gather fresh rose petals, rose geranium leaves, lavender blooms, and jasmine flowers; and I would brew a delightfully aromatic tea with them. I would also add a little cinnamon and honey, and it was always a transcending floral moment. The tea would also have a beautiful pinkish-gold color. In Miami this is only possible in the winter.

I also would add some cottage pink flowers when they were in bloom. At that time I grew my pinks from an unimproved seed strain, so I seldom got flowers -- but I was lucky I got any--(considering where I was growing them).

Christin, I am happy to have found your post on this topic. To answer your question, I know that the types of Dianthus that can be eaten for sure are the cottage pinks, or Dianthus plumarius cultivars. I wouldn't recommend any other type.

For fun, I recommend the following experiment that I succeeded with in making an aromatic water:

1. Gather (or buy) a bunch of freshly-dried spearmint leaves, squeeze them in your fist to bruise them, and place them at the bottom of a large pot.
2. Put a heat-safe object in the center of the bottom of the pot --(making sure the bruised dried leaves aren't under it). This can be a brick, rock, etc. (looking back, something I didn't try but could have made it easier would have been using a thick pyrex measuring cup.)
3. Place a small bowl securly over the heat-safe object, which will act as its heat-protecting base support. (Or as in my new idea, the thick pyrex measuring cup, which probably wouldn't require the support piece to protect it from the stove's heat.)
4. Pour enough water in the bottom of pot --(not the bowl or measuring cup) -- to cover the mint leaves.
5. Cover the pot with an upside down lid that is somewhat dome-shaped and has a knob-handle, in order for the condensed steam to drip into the bowl.
6. You can (but I don't think have to) put ice in the upside down lid (to aid in the condensing of the aromatic steam), but looking back, I really think this is unnecessary and it causes more problems than anything else.
7. Simmer the brew on low, carefully looking inside occasionally until you see that there is no more water in the bottom, but it has all either gone into the supported bowl (or measuring cup) or into the air.
8. Let it cool, and Voila! You have a homemade hydrosol. I would recommend putting it in a closed bottle or jar in your fridge and using it within a week, to be safe.
* You may notice some shiney bubbles at the top of the water. This is normal; it's the essential oil! :)

I like to add a little bit to a glass of filtered cool (but room-temperature) water. I sometimes do this with rose or orange blossom water on a hot day. (I buy the latter two waters at specialty ethnic grocery stores from a Lebonese brand I believe is called "Cortas".)

Enjoy!

Daylilies are also very tasty - a peppery kind of flavor. Nice in salads.

I've got to try daylilies, tulips, calendula, borage, and nasturtiums! It's always good to expand your palate! You know, I've also heard that GARDENIAS are edible, and that you can make a perfumed drink with them... but you can count me out of that one. There is such a thing as TOO perfumy.

By the way, when I was in college, there were several large books in the library COMPLETELY about edible flowers. You can probably find some on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. There were some things in those books that they should warn people about the danger of-- for example, I believe they gave information about a liquor made with lily-if-the-valley in Norway. I don't think it takes a genius to know not to eat Convallaria, but there are all sorts out there...