5 Edible Flowers to Grow in Your Vegetable Garden

, written by gb flag

Nasturtium flowers in a salad

Flowers have to work hard to earn their keep in my garden. I expect them to draw in beneficial insects, suppress weeds, look attractive and ideally be edible too. That might seem like a big ask but, perhaps surprisingly, there are more than a few flowers that meet my needs. Here are my favorites.

Top 5 Edible Flowers

Nasturtiums. Nasturtiums were the first flowers I ever ate. They continue to be one of my must-grow flowers because they perform so many valuable garden functions. They pull in pollinators, act as a sacrificial crop to help protect my brassicas, beautify my plot and even provide a useful windbreak as they twine through the low fence surrounding my vegetable garden.

On top of all this, their peppery flowers and leaves add variety to salads and sandwiches. Even the freely generated seed pods can be pickled and eaten, if you like that sort of thing. (I don’t, unfortunately!)

“Calendula
Calendula petals

Calendula. Calendula petals have many uses, but I love them most for their vivid color. They’ll give some zing to a simple syrup that can be used to make exciting cocktails, or you can make oils, vinegars and butter with them. They can even be used as a saffron substitute.

Hemerocallis. You have to be quick for Hemerocallis – the clue’s in their common name of ‘daylily’ – but the opportunistic gardener can use the buds and flowers in stir fries, soups and salads.

Sunflowers. Add the petals to a green salad or, once the flowers have passed, eat the seeds raw or toasted. Or you can just leave them to attract wildlife. Bugs love the nectar, while seed-eating birds will appreciate their protein-rich seeds later in the season.

“Sunflowers

Elder. Not forgetting woody plants, some shrubs also have edible flowers. Elder bears frothy flowerheads that can be deep-fried in batter or turned into refreshing cordial or wine. Don’t harvest too many flowers all at once though – leave plenty behind for wildlife, as well as to glean a useful second harvest of berries for making delicious drinks and sweet pies.

Other Edible Flowers

Those are just my favorites; there are plenty of other edible flowers to experiment with! Try pansies or violas, cornflowers, primroses, borage, French marigolds or sweet William. The flowers of most herbs can be used as a milder version of their leaves too.

And don’t dismiss the flowers of many common vegetables – for instance, squash flowers can be fried in batter or stuffed with cheese or rice, and if any of your brassicas begin to bolt you can harvest them as ‘raab’.

“Squash
Squash flower

Harvesting Edible Flowers

Make sure to correctly identify any flower you intend to eat, because some are poisonous. There’s a worrying trend for some food bloggers to use questionable flowers in photo shoots to pretty up their dishes, so don’t believe everything you see on the internet!

Avoid picking flowers from busy roadsides or anywhere frequented by dogs or farm animals. If you buy flowers as young plants, grow them on for several months before eating the flowers, just in case they’ve been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. The surest way to obtain edible flowers that are not tainted with pesticide or herbicide residue is, of course, to grow your own from seed.

“Flowers

Pick flowers fresh on the day you wish to use them. Usually the petals are the only part of the flower that is used, so discard all other parts and wash off any pollen. Umbelliferous plants such as fennel and dill can be used whole, thank goodness – can you imagine trying to remove the tiny petals from elderflower?

Remember, flowers attract insects so make sure to give them a shake to remove hangers-on, and a wash to get rid of any tiny creatures that are not so easily dislodged. It’s no good attracting beneficial bugs into your garden only to eat them yourself – unless that’s your intention. They do say insects are packed with protein after all!

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Comments

 
"So glad to see mention of edible flowers...I would like to add just one thing: Nasturtium seeds used to be pickled as a garnish like capers - but DO NOT EAT TOO MANY SEEDS (better yet, do not eat the seeds at all) because they have a high oxalic acid content, not good for one's kidneys. Nasturtium blooms, leaves, and stems, however, are tasty and contain several key vitamins - in contrast to the seeds, they are a nutritional boon!"
Arche N. on Thursday 27 July 2017
"Thanks for pointing this out Arche. I imagine the amount of nasturtium seeds that anyone would want to eat at any one time would be very small and within safe limits, but it's good to be aware of these things!"
Ann Marie Hendry on Thursday 27 July 2017
"After eating nasturtium leaves and flowers, I developed a severe headache. I continue to grow and save their seeds every year. They do an excellent job repelling pests in my veg garden."
Dorene Inglis on Sunday 14 July 2019
"Sorry to hear you're unable to eat nasturtiums Dorene. But at least you still get to enjoy looking at them!"
Ann Marie Hendry on Tuesday 16 July 2019
"Thank you very much for the information on edible flowers.I never knew that rose was an edible flower and many others.I have also learnt a lot concerning precautions on washing them and on eating sime of the seeds such as those if nusrtatium flower that has oxalic acid which is dangerous to the kidneys.We are nearing winter in my country Botswana. As soon as spring comes I will be planting a number of edible flower as per your suggestion. Kind regards "
Irene Kwape on Sunday 9 May 2021
"I read your blog. Having very use full information help me a lot. I will read more articles on your blog."
Knowledge-Wisdom on Friday 27 May 2022

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