Have you ever wanted to get more out of your garden? Why not enhance the flower garden with edible flowers? By incorporating edible flowers into the garden, you not only have a garden that looks and smells beautiful but one that tastes great too. Even if you're short on space, you can still have edible flowers in the garden by incorporating them into containers. When growing edible flowers, avoid the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and always know which flowers are edible before consuming them. There are many resources available on edible plants and flowers. Always check these reliable sources before attempting to eat anything you are unsure of.
What are Some Edible Flowers?
Edible flowers come in nearly all shapes and sizes and can perform the same landscape functions as ornamental plants. Some of the most popular plants in the garden actually have edible flowers.
- Pansy blooms not only smell nice, they taste good too. Unlike most flowers, the pansy's entire flower can be eaten. These flowers come in numerous colors, adding lovely accents to salads as well as the flower garden.
- All parts of nasturtiums are edible including the leaves, stems, roots, and flowers. Nasturtiums have a sharp, peppery taste that works well with many dishes and are great in salads and sauces.
- Daylily flowers are edible and generally battered up and fried.
- The petals of all roses are edible, even the wild ones. The taste of rose petals varies from slightly bitter to fruity. They are great frozen in ice cubes and added to water on hot days.
- Calendulas, or pot marigolds, have been called the poor man's saffron as its orange or yellow petals provide dishes with the color.
Other Flowers You Can Eat
Not all edible blooms come from flower beds. Did you know that broccoli, cauliflower, and artichokes are all flowers? For instance, the part of the broccoli that we eat is technically the flowering part of the broccoli plant. If you leave the broccoli in the garden, it will eventually open up and reveal its beautiful, yellow flowers. These flowers are edible both before and after they have opened up. The same applies with the other two. And you just thought they were vegetables. Squash blossoms can also be eaten and are oftentimes dipped in light batter and fried. They have a sweet flavor. Many herb flowers are just as tasty as their foliage. Some of these include:
Thyme plants may be considered as some of the most aromatic herbs, but their tasty flowers are also a wonderful addition to salads, sauces, and pasta dishes. Borage not only smells like cucumber but it tastes similar to them as well. The vivid, blue flowers also make great additions to salads. While some consider it a weed, dandelions are actually herbs and quite tasty ones too. All parts of this so-called weed are edible and are great fried or added to salads.
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