Edible Flowers (updated 6/24/2010)

By Claudia (The TP Gardener)

As you stroll around the Tyler Place you will pass many areas of flowerbeds and cross many grassy patches. Did you know that some of the plants are edible? Here is a list of the edible flowers you could find right here at The Tyler Place (or even in your own backyard).

1. Nasturtium: Leaves and petals have a distinct peppery taste and are a great asset to any salad. Leaves are best picked and eaten when still quite small and young.

2.Daisies: the petals are edible and look lovely scattered over a salad. These flowers are perfect for a wonderful flower soup.

3. Roses: the petals are edible, though the white base of the petal tends to be bitter, so is best removed. Rose petals are really lovely when iced and used as decoration on top of birthday cakes or summer flans. Red rose petals are the tastier ones.

5. Sunflower: we all knew that the seeds were edible and delicious, but the buds are also edible, as are the petals which have an interesting taste somewhere between bitter and sweet.

6. Dandelion: Leaves, roots, flowers and buds are all edible. The leaves can be used in salads or brewed into a tea, the flowers and petals used for garnish and in salads. Pick as fresh and young as possible, as they taste more bitter with age.

7. Violas and Pansies: the flowers and petals are pretty when sprinkled on top of salads - or even as decoration on top of fairy cakes.

8. Clover: The whole flower is actually edible and a high source of protein - though better digested when boiled lightly for 5 - 10 minutes. Rabbits and guinea pigs love to eat clover it too.

9. Lavender: really an herb so it is not surprising that the flowers are edible as well as the leaves. The flowers can be used in a similar way to the leaves (needles) and are especially recommended for adding to lamb before cooking. Flowers look beautiful and taste good too in a glass of champagne. But another great thing about lavender is that insects and slugs don't like the scent, so spreading a stem or a few flowers around the deck or picnic area can help to keep annoying gnats away!

11. Peony: In China the fallen petals are parboiled and sweetened as a tea-time delicacy. Peony water was used for drinking in the middle ages. Add peony petals to your summer salad or try floating in punches and lemonades.

12. Impatiens: The flowers have a sweet flavor. They can be used as a garnish in salads or floated in drinks.

13. Geraniums (not the lemon-scented variety), carnations, and the blossoms from apple, cherry and pear trees are also edible

Warning: Before eating any flowers be sure that you can identify what the flower is and that it is indeed safe to eat. People with allergies such as asthma or hay fever are better off avoiding eating edible flowers as it can set off a reaction.