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Edible flowers

16 years ago

Do you use edible flowers in your cooking/presentation of your meals? If so, would you mind sharing which ones are best for this purpose so I can buy the seeds for my garden this year? TIA

Comments (13)

  • 16 years ago

    Nasturtiums, pansies, violets, violas, roses, borage leap to mind. Hibiscus, lavender, squash, any flower from herbs left to flower. I'm sure there are others.

  • 16 years ago

    I use pansies most of the time. They grow well for me here in my cool climate. When the chives bloom I pick those to use also.

    Nancy

  • 16 years ago

    Nasturtiums, lavender and calendula are the first that come to mind. I love calendula petals mixed in with a salad of tender mixed leaves.
    I have to plant some again as they are so pretty as a golden fleck in a salad.


    A salad made by a friend in Canada

    I have nasturtiums growing wild in my garden and sometimes add them to our salads.

    Do be careful that there has been no pesticide applied in the garden and check carefully for slugs or insects that may be hiding inside the flowers. :-)

    SharonCb

    Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Flowers

  • 16 years ago

    I use rose petals, pansies and chive flowers most often because they are what I have a LOT of. You can also use daylily buds (some people stuff them like squash blossoms) and I have even used Hosta Leaves as my greenery on a serving platter.

    Alexa

  • 16 years ago

    I am challenged when it comes to growing herbs, but borage has proven to be the one herb that grows well for me. And I love using the flowers in salads. But my favorite presentation has been to use them to decorate my upright deviled eggs.

  • 16 years ago

    I use day lilies in salads....and believe it or not, different cultivars have different flavors. And since the flowers only last a day, I feel no remorse about picking the flowers for s dinner salad before they fade.
    Donna that's a beautiful presentation! Where did you get that server for the upright eggs?
    Linda C

  • 16 years ago

    I've used nasturtiums, and I think they taste great! I've used calendula - was not that impressed but they are pretty. Also have used bachelor's buttons, which had an onioney taste to me. Violets and rose petals I've used in jam. Borage has a cucumber taste to me, they are gorgeous! Mint and basil blossoms are OK, but not that aesthetic to eat, they have lots of little bits.

  • 16 years ago

    I use hibiscus and nasturtiums, which reminds me that I need to replant the nasturtiums. They grew wild in my yard in Venice, and they are very good at reseeding themselves. I use hibiscus mainly to make tea, and I did plant a new hibiscus, but it will be a couple of years before it gets very large. Unfortunately, white flies love them, and so they take a lot of maintenance - mostly just washing off with water. I have lots of roses in my new yard, but I haven't been eating them.

    Lars

  • 16 years ago

    Squash flowers are always good.

    dcarch


  • 16 years ago

    Don't forget to sugar some for sweets. I did some violas and they are so pretty. Don't plant them though because they really are a vile weed!! You can also do lilacs and violets. Here is a link for some pics. It also preserves the flower for later use.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • 16 years ago

    I don't consider violas vile weeds, Cookie! I grow them here on the beach. They come up everywhere and add their cheerful presence. If they are in a place I don't want them, they are easy to pull out. Otherwise, they will grow and them fade when the weather gets warm and I pull them out. But not before shaking the plant to make sure that lots of seeds are redeposited in their original location. Love those little things! Lilac and violets don't grow down here and I will not eat my daylily flowers!

  • 16 years ago

    Donna, now I want to plant some borage, just so I can use those flowers, they're lovely.

    cookie, Grandma used to tell me that a weed was just a plant that grew somewhere we didn't want it. (grin)

    I like the peppery bite of nasturtiums in salads, plus a lot of people do a double take when you serve them flowers, so that's fun too.

    I have battered and fried squash blossoms, they aren't healthy but they are good.

    I've made tea from Rose Hips and jelly from rose petals, but I didn't like the jelly, I thought it tasted like perfume, although I've sugared rose petals and used them as a decoration for cake.

    I've used the blossoms on chives, I think they taste a lot like...well...chives. (grin) A couple of whole chive blossoms look nice in a bowl of potato salad.

    Of course I also eat salads made of purslane and lambs quarter, I figure if they are growing in my garden, I'm eating them!

    Annie

  • 16 years ago

    I love eating flowers! Daylilies are my favourite, but calendula, nasturium, chives (garlic and onion), and rose petals are my favourites.

    Did you know that the flowers of most culinary herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil, rocket, mint etc) are edible? They taste just like the herb they come on.

    Crystallised flowers, especially violets and borage flowers make the most beautiful edible cake/dessert decorations! Of course, so do fresh flowers.

    Below is a list of edible flowers. Remember 'edible' does not always mean 'tasty' - some are quite bland, some are bitter.

    Acacia, angelica, alkanet, alexanders, almond, anise, anise hyssop, apple blossom, banana, basil, bergamot, borage, burdock, calendula (marigold), chamomile, chicory, chives and garlic chives, clove pinks, clover, coriander, cowslips, crucifix orchid, dandelion, day lily, elderflower, evening primrose, fennel, forget-me-not, fuschia, gardenia, garlic, ginger, hawthorn (may), heartsease, heliotrope, Japanese honeysuckle, jasmine (J. sambac), ladyÂs smock, lawn daisy, lavender, lilac, lime blossom, loofah, lotus, lovage, marjoram, marshmallow, meadowsweet, milk thistle, mimosa, mints, mullein, musk mallow, mustard, nasturtium, orange blossom, onion, oregano, passionflower, peach blossom, primrose, primula, pumpkin, rose petals, rosella, rosemary, safflower, sage, scented geraniums leaves and flowers, Scots Thistle, snapdragon, St. JohnÂs wort, sunflower buds, salad rocket, soapwort, squash, sweet violet, sweet cicely, tansy, thyme, tulip, violet, viperÂs bugloss, wood betony, woodruff, yarrow, yucca, zucchini.