I recently sent an email to the Park Seed customer service department asking for interesting or frequent customer questions. When I get a good one, I'll dig the resident experts for the best answer. We'll call it the Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (imagine a booming voice with an echo) and I will post them for everyone to enjoy.
Here's our first Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (again-booming with the echo)
“Do you have a list of edible flowers?”
Apparently conventional fruits and vegetables aren't hittin' the spot for these garden gourmets.I took this one the Park Seed senior staff horticulturists. His answer was... drum roll, please...“Yes.” Then he gave me the list. I've pasted it below. Mmm... rose pudding. I hope you enjoyed our Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (you get the picture.)
[Disclaimer: don't give me a hard time if I don't post a Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (yadda, yadda...) everyday- Park Seed Blog Question of the Every Other Day or So! just doesn't have the same ring to it.]
Edible Flowers
The following flowers are edible and can be used in a variety
of food preparations. Always make sure to use freshly col-
lected flowers from plants that have not been sprayed with
insecticides or fungicides. Do not use flowers from a
florist or flowers collected along the roadside since they
may contain pesticides or lead from car exhausts. Never
experiment with other flowers since some like Foxglove,
Azalea, and Clematis are poisonous when eaten.
Harvest flowers and buds in early morning after the dew has
dried. Store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with
a damp paper towel in the bottom. Use only glass, enamel,
ceramic, or plastic containers and wooden spoons or spatulas
when cooking them. Trim away all stems as close to the
flowers or buds as possible and remove the white tips on rose
petals since they are bitter. When using flowers in salads,
add them after the dressing.
Flower Use
Anise Hyssop Tea, marinade, Chinese dishes
Apple blossoms Salads
Bellis (English Daisy) Slightly bitter. Salads
Black Locust (Robinia) Fritters
Borage Cucumber flavor. Potato salad,
cottage cheese, tossed salad,
cream cheese, potato soup, fruit
salad, cake, and canape decora-
tion, frozen in ice cubes added
to summer drinks
Calendula (Pot Marigold) Adds subtle flavor and golden
color to soups, salads, bis-
cuits, rice, & egg dishes
Carnation Soups, stews, sauces, salads,
stuffed peppers, marmalade,
butter, pickled
Cercis (Redbud) Salads, pickles, fritters
Buds pickled
Chamomile Tea, salads
Chives Mild onion flavor for vege-
tables, omelets, cream
cheese, salads
Chrysanthemum Slightly bitter. Salads, soups
Cinnamon Basil Fruit salad, chutney, sweet and
sour dishes, marinades for
chicken or ribs
Cornflower Salads
Cress Salads
Dandelion buds Omelets, salads, marinated,
pickled
Daylily Oriental stir fry, boiled and
buttered, battered and fried
Dill Pickles
Elder (Sambucus) Cheesecake, fritters, candied,
pancakes, muffins
Fragipani (Plumeria) Stuffed with corn meal or melted
cheese
Garlic Chives Mild garlic flavor
Geranium Mildly sweet
Hollyhock Buds in salads and omelets;
flowers in sandwiches
Hosta Salads
Jasmine (jasminum
polyanthum) Salads
Lavender Salads, teas
Lilac Salads
Lemon blossoms Salads, teas
Marigold Used fresh or dried. Chowders,
salads, rice dishes, broths,
custards, cookies, muffins,
sandwiches, pickled
Mignonette Dry, crush, mix with salt,
veal, and lamb dishes
Mimosa Salads
Mints (except pennyroyal) Teas, salads, vegetables
Nasturtium Light, peppery flavor; salads
stews, soups, sandwiches,
omelets, seafood, cheese
spreads; pickled buds
Orange blossoms Salads, teas
Pansy & Johnny Jump Up Vegetable and fruit salads,
candied cake decorations
Petunia Sweet flavor
Pineapple Sage Teas, salads
Plum blossoms Salads
Primrose (Primula vulgaris Candied cake decorations,
& veris) salads
Red Clover Salads, spinach, turnips and
greens, with butter on toast
Red Bergamot (Monarda) Mellow mint-citrus flavor,
fruit salads, vegetables, tea
Rosemary Slightly bitter; soups, meat
dishes, vinegars, butter, or
cream cheese
Rose - all but especially Fresh or dried; cakes, puddings,
Gallicas and Damasks honey, syrup, vinegar, candied,
salads, sandwiches
Safflower Provide color and flavor as a
substitute for Saffron; soup
stock, rice
Sage Cold salads
Salsify buds Omelets, marinated, salads, pickled
Scarlet Runner Beans Salads
Squash blossoms Stuffed, fritters, omelets
Sugar Snap Peas Salads
Sweet Acacia (A. farnesiana) Candied or in ice cream
Sweet Cicely Syrups, sweets
Verbena Dry, crush, mix with salt;
veal and lamb dishes
Violets (Viola odorata) Salads, sauces, fritters,
custards, candied, cakes,
sandwiches
Cheers,
Thomas
tandrews@parkseed.com