Edible Flowers
Before you eat any flower, find out where it came from! Flowers grown in commercial greenhouses are saturated with dangerous chemicals. So are flowers grown in or near land that has been chemically fertilized or dusted with pesticide or herbicide—the poisons wind up in the leaves and petals. Eat only flowers that have been grown without chemicals, or with chemicals developed specifically for edible plants.
Flowers usually taste like a more or less concentrated version of the rest of the plant. Mint flowers taste minty; garlic flowers taste garlicky. Crystallized pansies and roses are delicious, but dandelions are definitely a savory. Linda Stradley describes the flowers' flavor here and gives detailed instructions and warnings) for most types of flowers.
The flowers of these plants are edible:
| Angelica Anise Apple Arugula Bachelor button Banana Basil Bee Balm Borage Broccoli Burnet Calendula Carnation Cattails Chamomile Chevil Chicory Chive Chrysanthemum Cilantro Daisy (English) Clover Cornflower Dandelion Day lily Dianthus Dill Elderberry Fennel |
Fuchsia Gardenia Garden peas (NOT sweet peas) Garlic Geranium (except for citronelle geraniums) Gladiola Grapefruit Hibiscus Hollyhock Honeysuckle Hyacinth Impatiens Jasmine Johnny-jump-ups Kumquat Lavender Leek Lemon Lemon verbena Lilac Lime Linden Marigold Marjoram Mint Mustard Nasturtium Okra |
Orange Orchid Oregano Pansy Peach Pear Petunia Primrose Queen Anne's lace Radish Redbud Rosemary Rose Safflower Sage Savory Scarlet runner beans Snap dragon Sorrel Squash Sunflower Sweet woodruff Thyme Tuberous begonia (hybrids only) Tulip Viola Violet Yucca Zucchini |
