Flowers: Pretty enough to eat!

Jul 10, 2013

by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners

We often think vegetables are for eating and flowers are for looking at. You can combine the two to add flair to your food with flowers.

Make sure that your flowers are edible and that they have not been sprayed with chemicals. Home-grown, unsprayed flowers or those grown by organic growers are the best. Edible flowers should only be used in moderation to add zest or as a beautiful garnish.

Some of the best flowers to eat are:

• Nasturtiums are ideal to brighten a tossed salad. They have a watercress-like taste. The leaves are edible with a peppery flavour and the large round seeds have been used as a substitute for capers.

• Violets are small in size and sweet in flavour, making them best suited for desserts. Crystallize them for fancy cake decorations or cut them up and sprinkle on ice cream or freeze them in ice cubes to flavour cool drinks.

• Pansies are extremely colourful and versatile. Use them whole or cut up in desserts, salads or side dishes.

•  Pot Marigold (Calendula) has bright orange or yellow petals and has been used for centuries to give a beautiful saffron-like golden colour without saffron’s exorbitant cost in everything from cakes to casseroles. Use the petals only, not the whole flower.

• Daylilies are completely edible but the flowers are the prettiest. Each has a unique flavour, sweet or savory, raw or cooked or fresh snacks right off the plant. Remove the pistils and flower base for best taste.

• Lavender combines well with other herbs. Use sparingly as it has a powerful fragrance. Sprinkle a few flowers on ice cream.

• Rose petals taste as good as they smell. They are best used in desserts and confections such as rose petal jam. Use only unsprayed roses.

Try vegetable and herb flowers that have the same taste as the more familiar part of the plant, only milder. Try squash or zucchini flowers in soups or stir fries or deep fried in batter or sprinkle a few bright flowers of scarlet runner beans on a casserole. Flowers of chives, onions, garlic and leaks are very decorative so add a few to salads or stir fries. Herbs are a great source of edible flowers. Pale blue rosemary or pink or purple thyme add visual interest as well as flavour. Borage is grown for its pretty sky-blue flowers and has a mild cucumber-like taste.

Never eat these flowers: While some flowers are edible, others are extremely toxic. The ironclad rule for eating mushrooms applies here too. Unless you are 100% sure of the flower’s identity and are sure it is safe to eat, do not eat. The following are some commonly grown flowers that must never be eaten. Buttercups (Ranunculus), Castor Beans, Crocus, Daffodil, Delphinium, Foxglove, Hydrangea, Lily of the Valley, Monkshood, Morning Glory, Petunia and Sweet Pea.

Your gardening questions can be submitted and answered on our website at www.lanarkmastergardeners.mgoi.ca.