As you’re planning for your spring and summer flower gardens, I wanted to remind you to take this opportunity to plant some favorites that can be enjoyed as additions to your plate as well as feasts for your eyes.  Flowers can play an essential role in what appears on your plate, not just as a garnish, but as an added taste dimension as well.

Edible flowers can add a spark to your soups and stews.  Scatter a few over your entrees or garnish a dessert, you’ll be so glad you planned for them to be included in your garden.  Even drinks aren’t exceptions.  I’m sure many of you have already used rosemary or lavender in your lemon or limeades.  Or maybe you garnished with a petite, perky violet.  Edible flowers have the power to bring a smile and a touch of romance perhaps to our menus that is unparalled by anything else.

It should go without saying that for your flowers to be edible, they must be pesticide free.  But I hope you are doing that anyway.  Also, never ever, ever, ever add petals to your plate when you are unsure of their origin.  Do not assume that flowers from the florist are safe for consumption. Nor are those beautiful wildflowers growing on the road side or in your neighbor’s fields.  Bottom line.  Grow your own.  Then you’ll know.  Even then, don’t plan on making a meal out of any of them.

Grow your own.  Even a few plants will bring tons of enjoyment.  So what are some of my favorites, and ones that will definitely be in my garden this year?

Nasturtiums: Both the leaves and blossoms of the nasturtium are edible, having a peppery taste much like mustard.  I especially like to use them to garnish desserts or salads.  A little  nasturtium goes a long way however.

 Pansies:  If you’ve ever tasted sarsaparilla, then you’ve tasted the flavor of the pansy.  Gorgeous additions to a salad or garnishing a dessert, they are also said to act as a love potion.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Marigolds: Marigolds can be used as a substitute for saffron – and they are much cheaper, of course.   The petals have a spicy, somewhat tangy, flavor.  Use them in the same way you might use saffron or scatter the petals among your salad greens.

Violets:  Wild violets are pesty weeds in my yard and flower beds but they are plentiful and flavorful.  They have a subtle sweet flavor and are especially pretty used on top of whipped cream garnishing desserts.  They are one of the prettiest blossoms to sugar, I believe.

Peonies: If you are willing to cut these gorgeous blossoms (which is like major surgery for me because I do love them so), the petals are gorgeous sprinkled in your lemon or limeades or party punches. 

Roses: I only have Knock–out Roses in my yard.  I would love to have others, but I have what I have.  Try adorning any dinner plate with a stem of roses or scatter them over your salads.      

Borage: I confess that I mostly grow borage for the bees.  I want to do everything I can to entice them to my garden, and they do love borage.  As do the butterflies.  While I scatter the blossoms on my salad plates, I mostly enjoy watching the bees and butterflies have their way with them.  It soothes the soul, and I think that’s important as well.

Sunflowers:  Sunflowers are best eaten in the bud stage when they taste much like artichokes.  I’m seldom willing to part with the few that I can grow given the space that I have.  Occasionally, I will pick a small one for the petals as a salad ingredient. 

Day Lilies: Slightly sweet, day lilies taste much like melon.  I have stuffed the blossoms much like you would a zucchini blossom, but I don’t do that often because I’m not willing to cut short their very short lives.

Dandelion and Clover Blossoms:  These are accidental growers around our place.  I only use early in the Spring before our lawn starts being treated for the summer weeds that are sure to crop up.  I grew up eating dandelion blossoms and greens at my grandparents’ houses.  It wasn’t until I hit my teen years and got “too sophisticated” for my own good that I refused to eat them.  Steam the young blossoms and toss them in a salad with the fresh greens.  The clover blossoms are only good, I think, when they are tightly budded.  Larger ones tend to be bitter. 

Zinnias: Even if they weren’t edible, there would be zinnias in my garden.  I mean I love having all of those fresh veggies and herbs so handy, but I love, love what flowers in the garden do for my soul.  Use zinnias like you would marigolds.  They do no have a pronounced flavor, but they make you smile when you eat them.  I think that’s a good thing.

These are definite additions to my garden.  Not only do I enjoy their beauty, I enjoy watching the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds work them and I thoroughly enjoy the added taste they bring to the table.  If you’ve not planned these floral additions to your rows of veggies, I highly encourage you to reconsider.

Next up, getting to know your herbs and veggies  their blossoms.

Photo Source:  Google Images