Edible flowers like daylily, lilac, rose, chives, and sunflower turn ordinary dishes into colorful, gourmet experiences.
Many flowers are not only beautiful. They can also be edible, adding flavor, texture, and color to salads, soups, pasta, desserts, or drinks. There is a wide range of colors, forms, and sizes of edible flowers. Gardeners often grow many as annuals in garden beds, raised beds, and patio containers for their ease of cultivation.
Edible flowers are an excellent way to add color, flavor, and excitement to many dishes. It is most rewarding to pick them right from your garden.
From the peppery zest of nasturtiums to the subtle sweetness of violets, these natural garnishes offer a spectrum of tastes, colors, and textures to elevate culinary creations. Marigolds and pansies bring vibrant hues to salads and desserts, while lavender and chamomile infuse teas and baked goods with soothing aromas. Roses, with their classic elegance, impart a delicate flavor to syrups and jams. Including chive blossoms, calendula, and borage not only diversifies the garden’s palette but also introduces a range of herbal and cucumber-like tastes to the table. Embracing edible flowers encourages a garden-to-plate lifestyle, promoting sustainability and the exploration of unique culinary landscapes.
Borage (Borago officinalis) is a spreading annual with abundant racemes of star-shaped, bright blue flowers from early summer to early fall. It is one of the easiest and most enjoyable annuals for a sunny border. The beautiful blossoms are edible with a fresh cucumber flavor. You can harvest the wrinkled, gray-green, fuzzy leaves of the foliage for use in salads and cold drinks. Borage has a diuretic effect in large quantities.
Among the easiest and most versatile flowers to grow in the garden, Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold) is a showy, hardy annual with aromatic foliage and a profusion of pretty daisy-like flowers over a long season. Prized by gardeners, it has also been used for many centuries for a range of culinary and medicinal purposes. The flowers have a slightly bitter, tangy, and peppery flavor. Sprinkle their petals on soups, pasta, rice dishes, and salads.
Chamomile has been used for thousands of years to calm anxiety and settle stomachs. The two main types of Chamomile are German Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) and Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile). Chamomile flowers have an apple scent and flavor. You can use them fresh or dried to make a popular calming tea or flavor jams, candies, and desserts.
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are a popular culinary herb in the home garden. Grown for the mild onion flavor of their leaves and pretty flowers, chives attract bees and other pollinators to the garden while helping deter damaging insects such as Japanese beetles. People have used chives in cooking for over 5000 years, also cultivating them for their ornamental value in flower gardens and traditional medicinal properties. All parts of the plants are edible and primarily eaten in salads. Float or sprinkle flowers on soups, salads, and vegetables.
Every part of the daylily (Hemerocallis) is edible. The flavor is a combination of asparagus, peas, and zucchini. You can use the young shoots as a substitute for asparagus, boil the tubers like potatoes, and use the flowers as pretty salad toppers. You can also chop them for sautéing or stir-frying. Be careful: do not confuse daylilies with tiger lilies or commercial lily varieties, as some may be toxic. Make sure you have correctly identified the plant before eating it.
Most Dianthus flowers (carnations, pinks, and sweet william) are edible and have a pleasant spicy, light clove-like or nutmeg taste. Cooks often crystallize them with sugar for cake decorations, adding lovely visual appeal as a garnish to soups, salads, and summer drinks. Since the 17th century, carnation petals have served as a secret ingredient in the French liqueur Chartreuse.
Prized for its beautiful flowers, people use Chinese Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) medicinally in China for various ailments. They consume both flowers and leaves as an exotic tea. The edible flowers, with their mild cranberry-citrus flavor, feature in salads across the Pacific Islands.
Lavender, renowned for its soothing fragrance and striking purple blooms, is also celebrated as a culinary delight. This versatile edible flower adds a hint of elegance and subtle floral flavor to many dishes. From infusing sugars and honeys to creating aromatic teas and lemonades, lavender’s distinctive taste enhances both sweet and savory recipes. Cooks sprinkle its dried buds over salads, bake them into bread, or blend them into desserts like ice creams and sorbets, offering a unique twist on traditional flavors. Beyond culinary uses, people value lavender for its therapeutic properties, as it promotes relaxation and a sense of well-being with its gentle, calming aroma. Incorporating lavender into your cooking not only elevates the dining experience but also brings a piece of the tranquil, aromatic garden into your home.
Hardy and vigorous, Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) are terrific shrubs that reward us with an abundance of exquisitely scented flowers in mid-spring. The edible blossoms have a delicate, slightly bitter, lemony flavor with floral, pungent overtones. However, flavors vary depending on the cultivar, from no taste to a true floral lilac flavor. They make a beautiful garnish for salads and desserts.
Linden (Tilia) are dense, deciduous trees adorned with heart-shaped leaves and clusters of creamy-white flowers in spring or summer. Their flowers have a sweet, honey-like flavor and are commonly made into tea. They contain antioxidants, and linden tea is often used for colds, coughs, and sore throats. Hives placed around some Tilia species yield a prized fragrant honey. The leaves are also edible. They taste like lettuce and are an excellent substitute for salads or sandwiches.
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a popular trailing to upright annual plant that rewards you with months of summer blooms. Nasturtiums rank among the most common edible flowers. The delicate blossoms have a sweet, peppery taste similar to watercress. Leaves and unripe seed pods add a citrusy and peppery flavor to salads. Flower buds contain mustard oil and may be used for seasonings. The flowers add eye-catching beauty to the plate and can be used to garnish salads, platters, and savory dishes.
Signet Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia) is a showy, single-flowered marigold with small but profuse, richly colored blossoms that generously cover the finely divided lacy foliage. You will love running your fingers through the flowers and foliage to release their lemony fragrance as you walk by. The flowers are edible and have a citrus flavor. Mix the petals in salads or teas, and enjoy! This marigold can also be used as a substitute for saffron. It may be harmful in large amounts.
With its showy, sweetly fragrant flowers and long blooming season, Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata) is a garden classic considered by many as the backbone of summer borders. The flowers have a slightly spicy and sweet taste. They are great in fruit salads and look beautiful when candied and added as a decoration to cakes or desserts. Not to be confused with the annual phlox that is not edible.
Unsurpassed in beauty and fragrance, Roses are a key element of the summer garden. All roses are edible, but those with the sweetest fragrance will likely have the most flavor. And the flavor is more pronounced in the darker varieties. Rose petals have a very aromatic, floral flavor reminiscent of strawberries and green apples, with overtones ranging from cinnamon to mint. They can be eaten raw and mixed into fruit or green salads. Rose petals can also be used in rose-infused beverages, jams, and jellies or added to sugar or butter.
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are fast-growing annuals boasting huge, brilliant flowers with yellow petals surrounding a dark chocolate central disk. These showstoppers are edible from flower to leaf to root if grown organically. The petals have a bittersweet, nutty flavor and can be eaten raw. The stalks taste like celery, and the young leaves are excellent when baked, sautéed, or added to salads. Unopened buds can be steamed like artichokes. Sunflower roots can be roasted, fried, steamed, or eaten raw in salads. Seeds are used widely in oils, snacks, and muesli.
Invaluable for their winter, spring, or summer blooms, Violets and Pansies (Viola) are also the most popular edible flowers, adding beauty and flavor to dishes and drinks. They have a sweet, honey-vegetal taste and can be eaten fresh in salads and candied in desserts. They also make an excellent garnish for any dish and float beautifully on cocktails. Unlike many edible flowers, the entire flower can be eaten, not just the petals. The heart-shaped leaves are also edible and tasty when cooked like spinach.
Plant Type | Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs |
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Genus | Viola, Tropaeolum, Syringa, Rosa, Phlox, Hemerocallis, Helianthus, Dianthus, Calendula |
Plant Type | Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs |
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Genus | Viola, Tropaeolum, Syringa, Rosa, Phlox, Hemerocallis, Helianthus, Dianthus, Calendula |
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Create a membership account to save your garden designs and to view them on any device.
Becoming a contributing member of Gardenia is easy and can be done in just a few minutes. If you provide us with your name, email address and the payment of a modest $25 annual membership fee, you will become a full member, enabling you to design and save up to 25 of your garden design ideas.
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