Many herbs, annuals, even shrubs produce blooms that can be eaten
Viola blossoms add color to a chicken salad lunch. Many flowers are edible, but must be grown without pesticides. Kathy Morrison
This is another installment in our Food in My Back Yard series, devoted to edible gardening.
My first acquaintance with edible flowers was during the crunchy-granola 1970s. I was visiting a friend, whose roommates were preparing dinner. One roommate dashed outside, returning with a bright marigold flower. To my surprise, he crumbled the petals into the salad bowl on the table. Instant color for those greens, and yes, instant flavor pops, too.
Since then, I don't blink at blossoms on food. I don't use them as much as I could, but happily grow plenty of plants that can lend their flowers to dishes.
However, edible flowers come with an important caveat: They must be grown organically, without pesticides. No residue on the food, please. That's why it's best to plant your own edible flowers -- you know how and where they were grown.
Also be aware that not every part of every edible flower is in fact edible. With flowers from borage, roses or calendula, only the petals are edible.
So which flowers are growing right now that can be eaten? An obvious one is the blossoms on the squash plants. Especially if you're already tired of zucchini, try picking some of these flowers (morning's best), removing the stamens and pistils, and stuffing them with a cheese mixture before frying them.
Scarlet runner beans are another vegetable with easy-to-eat flowers. The petals of sunflowers are edible, too -- save the seeds for roasting or for wildlife.
Also, any flowering herb that can be eaten has, naturally, edible flowers. Not all may taste that great, but you can't go wrong with chive blossoms, lavender flowers or rosemary blooms. Mint, sage and scented geraniums (pelargoniums) have lovely edible flowers, too.
The Sacramento County master gardeners have compiled an excellent guide to edible flowers, in Garden Note 155. (Find the link on this page.)
Here are my top recommendations for easy-to-grow edible flowers:
-- Calendula (aka pot marigold). Likely the flower that went into that 1970s salad. Rinse the petals well and remove the base before crumbling. These easily reseed.
-- Dianthus (aka pinks). The petals will lend a clove-like flavor to salad or as garnish on baked goods. Remove the bitter base. Best when small, I think.
-- Nasturtiums. These grow in just about any soil, have great color, and will bloom until frost. They reseed, too.
-- Pineapple sage. If you can bear to pick the gorgeous red spiky flowers, which appear in fall, they have a pineapple flavor.
-- Violas/johnny jump-ups. I grow these under my roses, and they come back year after year. Gorgeous decor for salads, open-face sandwiches and pastries. One friend puts them on her deviled eggs.
Important: Toxic flowering plants are a crucial category for the gardener to be aware of -- and why any flower intended for consumption must be positively identified first.
In addition to the well-known poisonous plants oleander and poinsettia, common garden flowers to avoid eating any part of include anemone, azalea, delphinium, foxglove, hydrangea and rhododendron. There are several others listed on Garden Note 155.
If you're not sure whether a flower is edible, and can't get it 100 percent identified, don't eat it. Simple as that.
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Garden checklist for week of Feb. 8
Dodge those raindrops and get things done! Your garden needs you.
* Start your spring (and summer) garden. Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.
* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots. Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).
* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.
* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions. Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.
* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.
* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.
* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.
* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before they bloom. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees soon after a rain. But remember: Oils need at least 24 hours to dry to be effective. Don’t spray during foggy weather or when rain is forecast.
* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.
* Remove aphids from blooming bulbs with a strong spray of water or insecticidal soap.
* Fertilize strawberries and asparagus.
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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series
Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening
WINTER
Is edible gardening possible indoors?
Hints for choosing tomato seeds
Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees
When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
How to squeeze more food into less space
Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Win the weed war by tackling them in winter
Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables
Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
Ways to win the fight against weeds
FALL
Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden
Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it
Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air
Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets
Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty
Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
Sept. 16: Time to shut it down?
Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you
Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water
Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers
July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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