Edible Flowers

Recently a customer asked, “Do you have a list of edible flowers?” 

Apparently conventional fruits and vegetables aren’t hittin’ the spot for this garden gourmet. I took this question to the Park Seed senior staff horticulturist. His answer was . . . drum roll, please . . . “Yes.” Then he gave me the list I’ve pasted below. (Mmm… rose pudding.)

Edible Flowers

A few tips for working with edible flowers:

• Always make sure to use freshly collected flowers from plants that have not been sprayed with insecticides or fungicides. Do not use flowers from a florist or flowers collected along the roadside since they may contain pesticides or lead from car exhausts.

• Never experiment with other flowers since some like Foxglove, Azalea, and Clematis are poisonous when eaten.

• Harvest flowers and buds in early morning after the dew has dried.

• Store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel in the bottom.

• Use only glass, enamel, ceramic, or plastic containers and wooden spoons or spatulas when cooking flowers.

• Trim away all stems as close to the flowers or buds as possible, and remove the white tips on rose petals since they are bitter.

• When using flowers in salads, add them after the dressing.

Here are a dozen terrific blooms to try:

Anise Hyssop

Calendula

Cornflower

Daylily

Geranium

Hollyhock

Nasturtium

Marigold

Pansy/Viola

Petunia

Rose

Verbena