Edible Flower:

Growing Edible Flowers in Your Garden

by Nicky Rogers

Eating flowers is pretty funny when you think about it. After all, it's something you might see a Looney Tune do, biting off the head of a daisy. However, not so long ago flowers were actually an integral part of cooking. Violets can be candied and nasturtiums eaten in salad, but there’s so much more -- a truly amazing variety of flowers that are not only edible, but quite delicious.

Candy Flowers

Violets are not the only flower that can be candied. Many spring flowers with small, delicate blossoms have a sweet and even slightly spicy flavor which can be enhanced by dipping in sugar. Be sure you don't consume any flowers that have been sprayed with pesticide. Growing them yourself from seed to adult flower, you can be sure that they’re untreated.

Candy flower gardens blooms throughout the summer. These summertime edible delights can include:

• Violets – white, blue, or purple, violets are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. Spreading easily, they grow readily when transplanted into a garden bed. Remember to confine them to a bed unless you want a full carpet of blooms to spread across your lawn.
• Pansies – Related to violets, pansies are just as delicately flavored and can be used in most recipes instead of violets. With their bright painted faces, they make beautiful border flowers.
• Roses – Candied rose petals and rose syrup were staples in Victorian cooking. Sweet, delicately flavored rose syrup gives baklava its characteristic flavor, and it is a perfect foil for cardamom in Indian recipes.
• Angelica – These delicate, lacy white flowers can be sprinkled in salads, but the stems and shoots make a delicious traditional candy that tastes a bit like minty licorice.

How to Candy Flowers

Violets and pansies can be candied whole, but roses should be separated into petals. Most recipes for candied flowers call for raw egg whites. You can use raw egg whites, but you can also use a confectioner’s powdered egg white instead.

Mix one raw egg white or powdered egg white according to package directions.

Spread a cup of very fine sugar in a flat bottomed pan. Carefully dip each flower into the egg white, then press into sugar. Use a fork to carefully turn the flower so all petal surfaces are covered. Lift out of sugar and lay on a screen or drying rack till completely dry. Apple and cherry blossoms can also be candied the same way.

You Got Soups, You Got Salads, All from Flowers

Growing up, one of my most memorable treats of early summer was my grandmother’s fried squash blossoms. Dipped in egg and flower and fried in olive oil with garlic, the blossoms have a sweet, nutty flavor that is completely unique to anything in this world. Below is a list of other garden flowers that are delicious in soups and salads:

• Daylilies – Like squash blossoms, daylilies have a mildly sweet and nutty flavor which may vary by color. Dredged in flour and dipped in egg, fried daylilies are a succulent, lightly crunchy vegetable-treat.
• Carnations – The flavor is just as spicy as the scent. Carefully separate the petals from the white of the flower’s base, which is bitter and not a good combination with the spicy taste, and sprinkle in salads for a surprising punch of color and spice.
• Borage – Like the leaves of said flower, borage flowers are delicious in salads and cold soups. They have a cool, cucumber-like taste that brings out the best tastes of the flower garden and delivers it right to the kitchen table.

These are just a tiny sampling of the numerous edible uses of flowers from your garden. If you want to learn more, you’ll find excellent recipes and information on edible flowers with a quick Google search. But please do be careful in your taste-testing. If you’re not 100% that the flower in question is edible, do NOT eat it.