Growing and Eating Edible Flowers

I have used flowers in salads and cooking for years – they intrigue guests and taste delicious. Most edible flowers are really easy to grow and some self-seed, coming up year after year.

You can grow edible flowers in your veggie patch or have them around the garden to enjoy and eat. I don’t have enough space here to discuss every delicious edible flower – but here are a few of my favourites …

Calendula is one of the easiest plants to grow. I picked up a punnet of 6 plants a few years ago, they self-seeded and I have continued to enjoy them ever since. Calendula flowers have big yellow or orange heads with masses of petals. I rip the petals off and throw them into a salad for flavour and colour, or sprinkle the petals around the outside of a dish (like confetti) for edible decoration.

Viola is a lovely little flower that I grow each year. I buy them in punnets from the local nursery. Violas are so easy to grow, especially in free draining soils. The flowers make great dessert decorations and look fabulous frozen in ice cubes for that special party cocktail.

Nasturtium is one of those plants that you either love or hate. The creeping variety can sometimes get a little out of control. I have a bushing plant and (touch wood) it has never put a foot (or branch) wrong. It has the most vivid red flowers which I use along with the leaves in summer salads for a slightly peppery bite. Stuffed with tasty soft cheese, the flowers make eye catching finger food for a party.

Daylilies are my absolute favourite edible flower, with over 40,000 named varieties in the world there is a daylily of every colour and flower variation to meet everyone’s taste. They can be purchased as bare-rooted plants, with their leaves chopped back, or as a potted plant. Whichever way you buy them, daylilies will quickly multiply to form a clump. Plant them in your garden – you’ll enjoy them as a colourful filler as well. I munch on the flowers as I wander around the garden. I add them to salads, stir fry them or use them to garnish casseroles and soups. The buds can be tempura battered and deep fried. The colour of the flower makes a difference to the flavour – yellow, orange and pink are slightly spicy, the darker red colours can be a little stronger. Try them all and make up your own mind, you won’t be disappointed.

Chive flowers can be pulled apart and the little purple florets sprinkled on salads, added to dips and stir fries. They are easy to grow in the veggie garden. Buy a packet of seeds and sow directly into light free draining soil, or get a plant from a nursery. If you let it go to seed you will have chives year after year.

Coriander grows wild in our veggie garden. I let them go to seed and they pop up all over the place. The flowers and seeds are perfect for salads. I add leaves, flowers and seeds to meat dishes for a fragrant spicy flavour.

Lavender flowers are excellent to use in baking, ice cream, fish and meat dishes. I prefer Augustifolia which are commonly known as the English varieties. The plant and flower head are smaller than the Intermedia varieties. Lavender grows very easily in free draining soil; add a little lime every few years and chop back the bush by a third in March to promote flowering. Your plant should continue to give you flowers for as long as 20 years.