Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
clblakey_gw

Edible Flowers/ Plants

CLBlakey
10 years ago

I just bought some nasturtium seeds to add some edible flowers to the sides of my bale garden. SCG mentioned Papaver somniferum (poppies) (I would like to try your seed I changed my mind maybe yours will produce more please email me) I know pansies are edible but what other flowers are edible that you grow in our zones. Are the edibles all annuals or are there some perennials you can eat. I did look at the edible landscaping forum but the zones are much warmer than ours.

I won't include fruit trees or bushes like blueberries etc. maybe edible leaves. Like bay leaves wrong zone from what I can tell but is there something else.

Comments (16)

  • northspruce
    10 years ago

    Daylilies are edible. Flavour depends on the cultivar but most are mild and sweet like lettuce. I have also eaten nasturtiums and pansies.

  • SouthCountryGuy Zone 4b-5 SE BC
    10 years ago

    hola CLB,

    PM or email me your address and I will ship you some seed. Each head produced probably a 1000 seeds, or so it seemed.

    Okay this is off the top of my head from some I have eaten and others I am planting, some are a subspecies of what I listed I just can't remember which. So don't assume it is all marigolds for example. List as follows: Amaranthus Caudatus (seeds and leaves), nicotiana, violet, marigold, snapdragon, begonia, geranium, carnation, chrysanthemum and of course who can forget the common dandelion. My favourite is the Coco plant followed closely by Cannabis. Both very tasting and make your mouth tingle :)

    Disclaimer *I am not responsible for anything that happens from the ingestion of the above plants* :)

  • CLBlakey
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Have had my day lilies for 5 years and they have only produced 1 flower.

  • bdgardener
    10 years ago

    Chive flowers and I have found the more I neglect my daylilies the better they flower. C

  • CLBlakey
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I hope my chives survive I transplanted them into a half barrel when I took out the backyard garden I made sure I let them go to seed but I was not very faithful with watering so I hope they make it. I have never thought to eat the flowers but will try them this year. I raised my lilies last summer as per someones suggestion so maybe this year.

  • davidpeaceriver__2b
    10 years ago

    I heartily recommend Peterson's "Edible Wild Plants of North America" to anyone interested in broadening their culinary experience; it's really the best, although there are a number of guides specific to plants in the Prairie provinces. At the very least, you'll be happy to know that most garden weeds are highly edible...but be very careful: some are highly toxic.

    I like to add the following garden flowers to my salads:

    -roses (petals)
    -calendulas
    -black locust blossoms
    -day lilies (as suggested above, all true lilies are edible)
    -pansies and violas
    -nasturtium
    -garden pea flowers
    -mustard /canola (wild or garden) flowers
    -squash blossoms (these should be fried or incorporated into stews)
    -mint flowers (esp. chocolate mint)

    I wouldn't fool around at all with chrysanthemum (some varieties contain pyrethrin, which is used as an insecticide) unless you are very sure of the species, or nicotiana (which is a member of the nightshade family).

  • Pudge 2b
    10 years ago

    There is an annual Monarda called Bergamo that is beautiful and edible. I've never eaten it, but have grown it and it certainly smells good enough to eat, kind of spicy. The bracts turn pink which is the 'flower'. Beautiful, long lasting bloom, great for cut flowers, too.

    Calendula (pot marigold) are also edible. These are great later season plants, I find, as they really punch out the blooms when the weather starts to cool off (i.e., direct sow, no need to start them early)

  • davidpeaceriver__2b
    10 years ago

    I'm just going to add a general caution to -- again -- buy a good field guide, be cautious, and proceed slowly. Some garden flowers (ie. foxglove) can kill you in just a few bites, and others may give you dermatitis (cow parsnip) or are inedible if prepared improperly (jack-in-the-pulpit corms; mayapple; wild calla). Every year, I read stories of people who have poisoned themselves by preparing 'wild garden salads' with foxglove, monkshood, or water hemlock, and just shake my head. You certainly don't want to be one of these casualties.

  • CLBlakey
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    David I could not respond to your email it is blocked through garden web.

    I pulled my monks hood last summer after finding out how deadly it was.

  • runswithscissors
    10 years ago

    (smile)...and watch out for those that are about leg-high of any male dogs around!!

    I like borage, because it tastes like cucumber. It's touted for that, and for me...it actually does.

  • Sheryl Gallant
    10 years ago

    Edible flowers and weeds has been a hobby of mine for years! I love foraging for free and healthy food!

    Here are a few more, some are weeds that are good for you, many are also medicinal herbs. All are edible. I have made organic wine with many of these and eaten most of them in salads.

    1) all mallows, includes hibiscus and malva moschata has more vit A than spinach and is mild and good in a salad. Mallow common weed is really good for you and the seed pods are high in protein!
    2) lilac flowers
    3) violets, mild and also good in salad
    4) bee balm, monarda didima - makes good tea
    5) amaranth reseeding annual - (loves lies bleeding, intense purple) eat the small leaves, sprouts and seeds
    6) Meadowsweet flowers - add almond flavour
    7) burdock sprouts, only young sprouts and stems
    8) jewelweed reseeding annual flowers and seeds
    9) potentilla

    1. yarrows
    2. fireweed
    3. dandelion

    Not sure these next will grow up here:

    1. milkweed, early sprouts, small pods, silks
    2. cattails - new sprouts, roots and seeds
    3. evening primrose

    I have made organic wine with: lilac flowers, choc mint, hibiscus flowers, dandelion flowers, red bee balm (monarda didima), daylily flowers - as well as some flower jellies. All were delicious. I found the lilac flower wine to be slightly bitter, however and would probably not use it again. Dandelion flowers make good syrup and are delicious battered and fried, as are daylily flowers, which can also be stuffed before cooking!

    Nasturtiums are peppery! Try just a tiny bit in a salad at first.

    I have a lot of blog posts about exactly this, but have not included a link - don't want to get sent to Disney or have my posting rights cut off... :-)

  • weeper_11
    10 years ago

    I ate a lot of caragana flower blossoms when I was younger!

    The only ones I've had recently have been violas, marigold, and daylilies.

    I completely second David's warning about toxic flowers...there are a lot of them! Know exactly what your are eating, and know if they need to be prepared a certain way. Sometimes they must be eaten in one stage and not another - for instance, you can eat honeysuckle, but not the berries that follow!

  • shazam_z3
    10 years ago

    Delphinium is the other popular plant that is highly toxic.

    Watch out for meadowsweet, it contains salicylic acid (aspirin).

  • CLBlakey
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I wanted to check out peony and found this amazing site that tells what the plants taste like too.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Flowers

  • Sheryl Gallant
    10 years ago

    Wow, CLBlakey! That's a great link! Thank you!
    I didn't know glads flowers were edible, and there are many others there that I never thought of! :-) and tulip petals!

    I have kept dried meadowsweet leaves to use for an aspirin/ibuprofen substitute for arthritis and mild headache. It's too mild for a migraine (I use feverfew for those) and apparently, from what I have read, does not contain the substances that damage your stomach lining. It was used as a cure for an acid stomach. I want to grow it again here and use the flowers in jams and jellies and so forth for the mild almond taste they impart.

    I like to (used to) dry and use a lot of my own medicinal herbs. I will probably do so again in my new 1b-2a zone. I have already seen several growing wild and brought some seeds with me.

    As stated above: Make sure you know what your plant is!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Meadowsweet in Wikipedia

  • CLBlakey
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    found this on the cooking forum had to post it they looked so tasty

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta for dinner

Sponsored
Outdoor Spaces
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars19 Reviews
Experienced Full Service Landscape Design Firm Serving Loudoun County