Planting an Edible Flower Garden

If you’re looking for a fun idea for your garden this summer, why not plant an Edible Flower Garden! Here are 10 easy to grow flowers that you can eat, use as garnish and add to many recipes.

Did you know that there are many kinds of flowers that you can eat? Pretty flowers that you can put into salads, add as garnishes to cakes and desserts, and flowers that you can add to recipes for flavour? And did you also know that you can grow them right in your own garden? So if you love gardening and eating and cooking, I’m sharing some ideas for planting an edible flower garden! 10 easy to grow, or easy to find edible flower varieties.

10 Edible Flowers to Grow in Your Garden

Lavender

Lavender can be used in so many recipes. I have a recipe for a Lavender Honey Cake that uses fresh lavender, and it’s delicious! Lavender can also be used to make tea, it’s delicious in jellies, cakes, drinks, sauces, ice cream and so much more. It has a very distinct floral flavour…sweet and almost lemony and soapy.

Squash Blossoms

Squash Blossoms are edible and taste like mild squash. They make great additions to salads, they’re delicious when battered and deep fried, and they’re gorgeous as edible garnishes.

Chive Flowers

All parts of the chive plant are edible, including the flowers. The flowers have an onion flavour, so use them anywhere you want an onion flavour. Great in salads, sprinkled on soups and used as garnish.

Calendula

Only the petals of calendula are edible, and taste tangy or peppery. The petals are pretty sprinkled as a garnish to savoury dishes or salads.

Marigolds

Marigold petals are delicious in salads or savoury dishes. They don’t taste as strong as they smell, the petals are actually quite mild in flavour, some tasting slightly citrusy, and some slightly spicy. Marigolds are great to grow in a vegetable garden too…they keep away unwanted pests.

Chamomile

Both the leaves and flowers of Chamomile are edible. Chamomile is best known for being made into tea, but it’s also a pretty addition to salads and as a garnish on desserts like cakes and tarts. Chamomile has a slight apple flavour. Good to know: if you have ragweed allergies, it’s best not to consume Chamomile.

Nasturtium

Both the leaves and the flowers of Nasturtiums are edible, and have a peppery taste which makes them great for salads and savoury dishes.

Roses

All roses are edible. The petals can be sprinkled on all kinds of dishes as a pretty garnish, they can be dried and used as tea or sprinkled in desserts. Their flavour is lovely in jellies, cakes and many other desserts.

Cornflower (or Bachelor Buttons)

Cornflower tastes a little like clover. The petals are gorgeous sprinkled on salads, and the colourful blooms make a pretty garnish.

Pansies and Violas

Pansies and Violas are such pretty and versatile flowers in the kitchen. They are gorgeous in salads, sprinkled on desserts and as garnishes for any dish. They have a light watery flavour, almost like grass. I can’t wait to share some pretty ideas for using pansies on desserts and summer drinks, so stay tuned for that!

A Lemon Tart with Shortbread Crust, decorated with Pansies makes a show-stopper dessert! Get the recipe here!

What to know about edible flowers:

Make sure the flowers are edible…only eat them if you know for sure! So do your research. It’s important to also know that not all parts of a plant are edible, so make sure you do your homework! A good rule of thumb: If you’re not sure, don’t eat them.
The best flowers to use in your kitchen are those that are pesticide free, so use organic flowers for cooking and garnishing.
Wash the flowers before you eat or cook with them.
The petals of the flowers are best used in cooking/garnishing. So remove all the stems, stamens and pistils.

5 More Gardening Ideas:

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Have an inspired day!