Five Edible Garden Flowers

Daylily

These grow in abundance in our area. We have eaten the blossoms raw in our salads.  They have a nice mild flavor. Some say the taste is between asparagus and sweet peas, others say it is more akin to iceberg lettuce.  Personally, I think it is somewhere in between. We have also tried these mixed with oxeye daisies and pickled. One interesting quality to note is that the Old Farmer's Alamanac says that these are used to thicken soups (see here).  For that purpose, we have dried some blossoms to add to our soups this fall and winter.  I will have to report on the effectiveness of the dried blossoms for that purpose in a future post. 

Borage

While the plant is a bit prickly, the blossoms themselves are smooth and taste like cucumbers. These are fabulous for adding both color and flavor to your salad. The blossoms and leaves can also be dried for tea. As a bonus, borage seed oil is high in essential fatty acids and is reportedly good for helping with inflammation (see here). This bonus makes it a good candidate for your survival garden, especially if you have an oil press. 

Nasturtium

Nasturtium is a popular vining flower in garden boxes and garden beds.  While some have likened the taste of the blossom to diesel, I found it to be quite pleasant.  It has a flavor similar to radish or a spicy turnip and is a great addition to your summer salad. Both the leaves and blossoms are edible and flavorful.

We planted these in the corners of our garden beds this year as an experiment.  Since they had not grown well for us before and I had not done a lot of research other than to find out they were edible, I didn’t realize that they were a vining flower.  They spread out all over the garden! Next year, we will be planting them next to a trellis to allow them to climb and to get more usage out of our raised bed.  Vertical gardening in small spaces can be such a help!

Rose

Roses have long been used in beauty products and fragrances, but did you know that they are edible as well? You can eat rose petals fresh. Like borage, they add color, flavor, and vitamins to salads and lemonade (see the blog post about summer hydration here).

This flower is very versatile. Its petals can be dried for teas and recipes, used in drinks, infused in honey, infused in oil, or made into rosewater. Rose water is a common ingredient in baked goods such as Turkish delight, cakes, and cookies.  It also makes a nice addition to some savory dishes. See the Ode a la Rose website here for some ideas on cooking with roses.

Once the rose blossoms are all gone and fall has come, you can collect the rosehips from your bushes. Rosehips can be made into jelly and syrup, or dried for teas. They are known to be a good source of vitamin C.  In fact, during WWII, the British made rosehip syrup as a vitamin C supplement for their children when wartime rations did not provide much in the way of fresh fruit. (1) If you choose to experiment with rosehips, be sure to strain out the seeds, which contain fine hairs that can irritate your throat.

Squash blossom

This is one flower I have yet to try.  These blossoms can be eaten raw. A good friend of mine, however, told me that fried squash blossom is one of her favorite dishes. Intrigued by this recommendation, I looked up fried squash blossom recipes and found a fried stuffed squash blossom recipe (click here) from Well-Seasoned Studio  that sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it!

(1) https://rosellyspread.com/history/

A word of caution: Always be sure to properly identify all plants and avoid plants that have been sprayed with chemicals!