Gardening Sweet Spots
By Donna Hessel
Let them eat… flowers???
I’ve always admired the tiny candied violets atop petit-fours and the sugared rose petals adorning a frosted cake. And, I have added a few peppery nasturtium leaves or pungent chive blossoms to a salad. I heard that daylily buds are delicious fried, but I was never tempted to try them. Better to look at than to eat them! It never occurred to me to deliberately grow or search out flowers specifically to use in a recipe. But that’s exactly what is trending! So here’s a brief guide to some flowers that are edible and how to use them; and a few caveats to keep in mind before you make a selection.
Keep this in mind before you eat a flower
- Check a reference if you are not sure a flower is edible BEFORE you eat it. Don’t use inedible flowers as decorations on edible food because your dinner guests will assume the flowers are also edible.
- Make sure the flowers you are eating have been grown organically. Do not eat flowers from nurseries, or garden centers because they have often been treated with chemicals not intended for food crops.
- Do not eat flowers picked from the side of the road. Contamination from car emissions and possible herbicide use eliminate them from culinary use.
- Introduce new flowers to your diet one at a time in small quantities to enable your digestive system to adjust. Be aware that if you have hay fever, allergies or asthma, eating some flowers may aggravate those conditions.
Some common flowers to consider eating
Always choose flowers that are at their peak and remove the pistils and stamens before eating. Herb flowers tend to have the same but less intense flavor as the leaves. Other flowers can be sweet, spicy, citrusy or even pea-like in flavor. Here are a few you may be growing in your garden.
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) All nasturtiums have spicy-scented blossoms with a peppery tang. They can be added to salads as a garnish. The leaves are also edible and have the same peppery taste. Immature seeds can be pickled and used like capers.
Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) You’ve probably enjoyed a handful of sunflower seeds as a tasty snack, but did you know all parts of a sunflower are edible? Flower buds are best cooked; petals have a bittersweet and slightly nutty taste and are best eaten raw. Steam, boil or sautee leaves (ribs removed). Peeled stalks taste like celery; roots can be roasted, fried, steamed or eaten raw.
Marigold (Tagetes spp. and hybrids) Some marigolds can be tangy to almost bitter, so the spicy herbal flavor can be an acquired taste. Remove the green or white parts of pulled-apart petals. Sprinkle petals on ice cream, freeze in ice cubes or use as a garnish.
Rose (Rosa spp. and hybrids) All roses are edible. The old heirlooms are especially delicious. Only fragrant roses have flavorful petals and the flavor is more pronounced in darker varieties. Remove the bitter white portion of the petal before using them in recipes. Rose petals are beautiful as garnishes on ice cream and desserts in ice cubes and party punches.
Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) Edible, but they don’t have much flavor. Use as a garnish or for candying – or just let them flow out of their baskets and enjoy their abundance and beautiful colors visually.
Dianthus (Dianthus spp. and hybrids) You might know them as pinks, carnations or sweet William. They all have a pleasant spicy, floral, clove or nutmeg like taste. Great for decorating cakes and a colorful garnish for soups, salads and the punch bowl. Cut away the bitter white base of the flower before using them.
Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata) Garden phlox is the only type of phlox that is edible. Petals look especially pretty sugared on cakes or desserts, floating in summer cocktails or garnishing salads. Their flavor is slightly spicy and sweet and also a bit like sugarsnap peas.
Pansy (Viola spp. and hybrids) Pansies and violas are the most popular edible flowers. (ahhh – those delicate petit-fours!), They have a mild, slightly minty flavor. Some taste more like wintergreen. Because of the wide range of available colors, they make the perfect garnish for any meal.
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Calendula ranges in flavor from spicy to bitter and tangy to peppery. It is known as the “poor man’s saffron.” Petals add a yellow tint to food and a saffron-like flavor. The petals can also be used to color and flavor butter, cheese and rice dishes.
Daylily (Hemerocallis spp. and hybrids) Almost succulent with a mild, sweet flavor, one of the tastiest varieties is the common daylily (those orange ones you often see growing wild). Hybrid daylilies do not taste as good so try one before harvesting a bunch for eating.
If you’re really into this… here are a couple of references you will want to take advantage of:
- Practicalselfreliance.com/edible-flowers/ – Ashley Adamant’s website includes a comprehensive list of edible flowers and recipes for using many of them.
- Loriastern.com – Loria Stern cooks, bakes and designs with edible flowers. You can purchase pre-made delicacies from her website (for a pretty penny!).
- Edible Flower from Garden to Plate by Cathy Wilkinson Barash – Her book contains 280 recipes using edible flowers from herbs, vegetables and ornamentals.
Bon Appetit!
