Edible flowers add lots of colour to salads. Both the flowers and the leaves can be eaten. Broadcast: Sat 10 Jun , am. Published: Sat 10 Jun , am. Transcript plus minus. Costa Georgiadis. To freeze, half fill an ice-cube tray with water, drop a flower into each cube, and freeze. Once this has frozen, top up and freeze again. Pot marigolds, or calendula, produce happy orange flowers. The petals have a peppery taste and look beautiful sprinkled over food. This is a hardy annual — sow where it is to flower, in early to mid-spring.
You will get quicker growth and stronger, earlier-flowering plants if you start them off under cover and plant outdoors once the weather has started to warm. Plant into full sun, in rich but well-drained soil. Use flowers straight away as a garnish on soups and salads. Grind with a little olive oil to create a "poor man's saffron" for colouring dishes. Gardens: edible flowers. Depend on flowers to brighten up your plot and add a little magic to savouries, salads, puddings and cocktails.
Viola tricolor has long been used as an edible flower, sprinkled on salads or desserts. Photograph: Getty Images. Infused in a tisane with lemon juice and zest. The peppery scent and bold colour are a perfect pick-me up. Petals are best quickly and lightly fried in vegetable oil before adding to soups, salads and stir-fries. Use the strongly spicy flavoured flowers sparingly in salads or when making Japanese Chrysanthemum soup.
Only chrysanthemum coronarium should be eaten; it is not advisable to eat other types of chrysanthemum. Flowers taste similar to lettuce, and make a lovely receptacle for sweet or savoury spreads or mousses. You could also toss individual petals in salads for colour.
Baby's Breath Gypsophila sp. The leaves can be tossed in with other greens for a mixed salad, typically to bitter to eat on their own they will add a tangy kick to an otherwise bland salad. Infuse the flowers to make a popular, mildly citrus-flavoured tea. Add strips of vibrant coloured petals to fruit salads. It is best to use the petals from the flower heads. If you use them whole, beware of the pollen.
The flowers can be crystallised and used to decorate cakes, mousses and roulades or try mixing them with salad leaves for a stunning dish. Flowers can also be used to make a subtly flavoured syrup to add to various puddings. Before eating , remove the centre stamen and any green bits. The parboiled leaves are used as a vegetable and the flowers can be sucked for their sweet nectar, used as a vegetable or made into a syrup and pudding.
A tea can also be made from the leaves, buds and flowers. The best part to use is the 'hoston', the rolled up leaf as it emerges in the spring. Cooking sepends on the size of the hostons, small ones can be fried for a few minutes, going well in stir fries.
Thicker ones are better boiled and used as a vegetable. Ideal for adding to soups or salads, or can be infused to make a refreshing tea. Hyssop also makes a perfect complement to fish and meat dishes. The flowers are intensely fragrant and are traditionally used for scenting tea, but can also be added to shellfish dishes.
Only jasmine officinale is edible. The false Jasmine Gelsemium sempervirens is a completely different genus and is considered too poisonous for human consumption. There are many ways to use lavender flowers, both in sweet or savoury dishes. Make a delicious lavender sugar and add to biscuits, sorbets, jams or jellies.
Add flowers to vegetable stock and create a tasty sauce for duck, chicken or lamb dishes. The flowers are small, so are ideal for adding to salad dressings or soups. They can also be added to stuffing for poultry dishes too.
Mix fresh fragrant flowers with a little cream cheese and serve on crackers or stir flowers into yogurt to add a hint of lemon. Also useful as a garnish for cakes, scones or sweets. The young flowers, once separated can be pickled and then used either on their own as a treat or in salads.
The ripe fruits are too acidic to eat raw but can be stewed with sugar or other fruits and made into jelly or pies. They are used to help the milder flavour of some fruits or to make a lemonade like drink. Young leaves are simmered in water and eaten as a snack. The flowers and leaves have a citrus taste, making them ideal for adding to salads, sandwiches, seafood dishes or hot desserts.
Marigolds may be harmful in large amounts. They should only be eaten occasionally and in moderation. All squash flowers have a slightly sweet nectar taste. These can be stuffed with cheeses and other fillings , battered and deep fried or sauteed and added to pasta. Thinly sliced blossoms can be added to soups, omelets, scrambled egg or add colour to salads. The leaves of the monkeyflower cn be eaten raw or cooked. The have a slightly bitter flavour and are mostly added to salads.
The leaves can also be used as a lettuce substitute. These tiny flowers pack a real punch and add that something extra to green salads, fruit salads, fresh strawberries, chocolate mousse or chocolate cake. Can also be used to decorate and flavour lamb dishes. As well as being colourful, the petals have a sweet, spicy flavour and will enhance salads, jellies and stuffings, rice and pasta dishes. Fresh or dried leaves can be used to make delicious bergamot tea. Before using the flowers, only give them a minimal rinse with water so as not to diminish the fragrance.
The radish flowers flavour is a milder version of the spicy root, making it ideal to add colour to the top of a salad or sprinkle over cooked vegetables to add a little spice. The fresh leaves and flowers have a peppery flavour similar to watercress.
The flowers will add a spicy touch to salads and the green seeds can be chopped and used with parsley as a garnish or made into capers. Flowers can also be used to garnish steaks or casseroles. The seeds have a strong aroma and spicy taste, they can be used as a condiment or spice to flavour cakes, breads and curries. Onion flowers offer an onion flavour, without the bite of an onion bulb.
These are ideal for tossing in a salad or for mixing in with vegetables. Wonderful added to tomato dishes, pizza and when making your own bread. Flowers can also be added to butter for flavour. The leaves can be picked while still young and will make a tasty and colourful addition to salads. The bright coloured flowers can be used as a garnish or in ice cubes to add an extra dimension to summer drinks.
They can be crystallised and used to decorate cakes, cookies or creamy desserts. The fruits of passiflora are edible, albeit somewhat unremarkable in taste.
They can be used in preserves and desserts. Flowers are slightly sweet and, surprisingly enough, taste like young peas. Delicious added to salads. Use candied flowers to decorate fish dishes or cakes. Cart 0. Sign In My Account. Viola - Beautiful and Easy to Grow. Did you know? There are over different species of Viola! History The viola has a rich history, featuring in the myths and medicinal practices of its native Eurasian continent, where it can be found growing wild among the grasslands and plains.
Medicinal Uses Viola has long been used for its medicinal properties.
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