Beginners Guide to Edible Flowers

Beginners Guide to Edible Flowers

Edible flowers offer so many beneficial relationships within a home garden. When creating a sustainable permaculture garden, everything should have multiple functions and uses. The more the better! Edible flowers not only look beautiful, but they also aid in pollination, provide food and habitat to beneficial insects for pest management, add diversity to the soil and provide food, and in some cases, offer medicinal qualities for us.

Without adequate pollination, crops may be smaller, less abundant or may not produce at all. So, it is important that we attract pollinators to our gardens to increase yields along with the quality of produce.

Note: not all flowers are edible. Make sure you identify them correctly. Do not eat flowers from florists or areas unknown, as they may have been sprayed with pesticides. The safest option is to grow your own.

Why Grow Edible Flowers?

  • Attract beneficial insects to your garden for natural pest management
  • Attract pollinators to increase harvests
  • Create diversity in the garden
  • Add colour and aesthetics to your garden
  • Have subtle, delicate flavours
  • Add nutrients to your meals
  • Living ground cover to protect the soil
  • Have medicinal qualities
  • Create beautiful aesthetic dishes

How to Harvest Edible Flowers?

Pick your edible flowers in the morning but after the sun has come up. First thing in the morning the flowers will still be closed, so wait until they fully open up. They will be at their best in the morning, full of life and well-hydrated. If you are serving them fresh, pick your edible flowers as close to serving time as possible. Otherwise, place stems in a jar of water or keep in a moistened towel somewhere cool.

Read How to Preserve Edible Flowers – click here

A-Z Top Edible Flowers

Flowers for the bees

Borage

Borago Officinalis

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible flowers
  • Great living ground cover to protect the soil and drop leaves for added nutrients
  • Very popular with the bees!
  • Great for salads and cocktail garnishes

best edible flowers

Calendula

Calendula officinalis

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible petals and leaves (leaves are a bit bitter)
  • Medicinal properties
  • Attracts pollinators
  • Often used as natural dye
  • Vibrant coloured edible petals that look striking as garnishes.

Cornflower

Centaurea Cyanus

Sow Spring & summer

  • Edible petals – no flavour
  • Great living ground cover to protect the soil and drop leaves for added nutrients
  • Attracts pollinators
  • Dry the petals and use as cocktail garnishes or floral salt, tea anything really they are amazing!

chive

Chive Flowers

Allium schoenoprasum

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible flowers (mild chive flavour) and leaves
  • Press the petals or let them dry naturally to use throughout the year
  • Great for pollination
  • Culinary herb – try infusing in vinegar for salad dressings
  • Deter pests for natural pest management

feijoa flower

Feijoa Flowers

Acca sellowiana

Flowers in Spring

  • Edible petals – subtle strawberry flavour
  • Fruit trees that produce sweet green fruit
  • Edible hedge option
  • Attracts small birds and bees for pollination
  • Only select a few to eat as this may reduce fruit crops

fennel

Fennel Flowers

Foeniculum vulgare

Sow Spring & summer

  • Edible flowers, leaves and bulb
  • Attract both bees and butterflies to the garden
  • Anise or liquorice flavour pairs well with pasta and savoury dishes
  • Flowers look like popping Fireworks

hollyhock

Hollyhock

Alcea rosea

Sow Late Summer & Autumn

  • Edible petals
  • Press the petals or let them dry naturally to use throughout the year
  • Attracts Bees, Butterflies and Birds
  • Tall Striking flowers
  • Great for stuffing

hibiscus

Hibiscus

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Bloom Spring to Autumn

  • Edible Flowers – citrus notes
  • Press or air dry to preserve
  • Attracts Bees, Butterflies and Birds
  • Medicinal properties
  • Used for teas, jams and garnishes

lavender

English Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia

Blooms Spring & Summer

  • Edible flowers – can be very pungent
  • Attracts Bees and Butterflies
  • Fragrant flowers – pairs well with citrus
  • Dried flowers can be used for teas, baking, fragrance, skincare
  • Medicinal properties

marigold

Marigold

Tagetes patula

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible petals only – peppery can be bitter
  • Strong aroma deters pests
  • Attracts Pollinators to the garden
  • Brighten up the garden

Nasturtium

Tropaeolum Majus

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible flowers , leaves, stem and seeds
  • Peppery flavour
  • Great pollinators
  • Medicinal properties
  • Chicken & animal feed
  • Nasturtiums make great living mulch

best edible flowers

Pansy

Viola Wittrockiana

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible Flowers
  • Press or air dry to preserve
  • Attracts Pollinators to the garden
  • Add fresh to salads or garnishes
  • Crystallise for baking and cakes

pumpkin

Pumpkin

Cucurbita Maxima

Blooms Spring & Summer

  • Edible flowers – choose male (no small pumpkin at the base) or you will not get pumpkins!
  • Attracts Bees
  • Can be eaten raw, stir-fried, stuffed or battered
  • Added nutritional value

rose

Rose

Rosa

Boom Spring to Autumn

  • Edible petals and buds – flavour varies
  • Some have strong scents
  • Attracts Pollinators to the garden
  • Great cut flowers
  • Drinks, baking, jams, sugars

rosemary

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

Blooms mainly Spring to Autumn

  • Edible Flowers – subtle rosemary flavour
  • Medicinal properties
  • Attracts Pollinators to the garden
  • Add fresh to salads, pickles, baking or garnishes

snapdragon

Snapdragon

Antirrhinum Majus

Sow Spring to Autumn

  • Edible flowers
  • Bright vibrant colours
  • Attracts Pollinators to the garden
  • Can be eaten raw in salads or garnish
  • Added nutritional value

Flowers for the bees

Sunflowers

Helianthus Annuus

Sow Spring & summer

  • Edible petals and seeds
  • Press the petals or let them dry naturally to use throughout the year.
  • The bees LOVE sunflowers and so do the birds
  • Sunflowers remove toxins from the soil
  • Tall and don’t take up much space.

zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia Elegans

Sow Spring & summer

  • Edible petals – slightly bitter
  • Lush green leaves that are great for beneficial insects to live
  • Beautiful stand out cut flowers. The more you cut Zinnia, the more flowers they produce
  • Attract both bees and butterflies to the garden
  • Vibrant coloured edible petals that look striking as garnishes

How to use Edible Flowers?

  • Herbal Teas
  • Cocktail Garnish
  • Infused oils
  • Infused Vinegar
  • Cake decorating
  • Every day meal garnishing
  • Salads
  • Botanical Salts
  • Arts and crafts
  • Bath bombs or decoration
  • Hand scrubs
  • Infused spirits
  • Healing body balms and lotions

More on Edible Flowers

Botanical Shortbread

Beautiful and delicious floral shortbread with subtle flavours of orange and thyme….

Garden Toast

Garden Toast

Garden toast is something I created one day when I was scraping together something for lunch and all I had was a crust and some cottage cheese in the fridge. I didn’t have any avocado, eggs or anything special to have with it. So I went out into the garden and found some inspiration! I picked two small tomatoes, herbs and edible flowers. It looked like a mini garden on toast and now I can’t stop making these beautiful, tasty creations!

Here are the creations I have made so far..

Original Garden Toast

My first addition with the last piece of bread I had left! I had fun making this and it definitely tasted delicious! Ingredients: Rye Multigrain toast, Cottage Cheese, Fresh tomato, Parsley, Rosemary, Rosemary flowers, Zinnia Petals and Basil leaves.

Fairy Garden Toast

It’s amazing what a little bit of Beetroot juice can do! Natural colouring and plenty of beneficial nutrients with an array of micro herbs and greens. You may even be able to convince your kids to eat more greens with this Fairy Garden toast. Get them involved in the process by having a bowl each to go outside and collect herbs. Ingredients: White Multigrain Toast, Cottage Cheese mixed with beetroot juice or fresh grated Beetroot, Baby Nasturtium leaves, Parsley leaves, Basil leaves, Sweet Violet flowers, Rosemary Flowers, Baby Pink chard leaves, Pink Zinnia Flower petals and Dill Flowers.

Jungle Garden Toast

Packed full of herbs and flavour! Ingredients: Country Grain Toast, Basil Pesto, Orange Nasturtium petals, Tiger Eye Viola Petals, Strawberry Flowers, Parsley leaves, Rosemary Flowers, Pea tendrils, Burgundy Marigold Petals and Purple basil leaves.

Summer Garden Toast

Summer on toast! Homegrown tomatoes are so sweet and delicious and tomato on toast is one of my favourite ways to eat them! Ingredients: Rye Multigrain toast, Red, yellow, orange cherry tomatoes, Purslane, Red basil leaves, Strawberry Flower, Sweet Violet Flower, Dill flowers, Rosemary Flowers, chopped Purple Kale, baby Nasturtium leaves and Fresh Chilli.

Botanical Garden Toast

Pest on toast is so delicious! I made extra pesto and if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen that I ate this for breakfast for an entire week! It was also so good with a poached egg on top. Ingredients: Sourdough toast, Basil pesto, Cottage Cheese, Chopped walnuts, Fresh Chilli, Basil Leaves, Fennel Flowers, Pink and White Dianthus, Baby Pumpkin Tendrils, Parsley Leaves and Strawberry Flowers.

Unicorn Garden Toast

My latest creation and maybe my favourite yet! Purple sweet potato spread is a vibe! Ingredients: Sourdough Toast, Mashed Purple Sweet Potato and Cottage Cheese, Overnight Pickled Red Cabbage and Red Onion (1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar heated to dissolve. Pour cooled liquid over Cabbage and Onion), Purple Kale, Grilled Baby Eggplant, Purple Pansy, Multicoloured Dianthus, Rosemary Flowers and Red Basil.

Get Inspired by your Garden

There is always something in my garden to make a toast topping and I love how easy and creative it is! Each piece is so unique and full of fresh garden nutrients! Having these ideas tried and tested means I know I can always whip up something even when my fridge is looking very lean.

Get creative and inspired by your own garden. There is something so satisfying about being able to walk outside and make a meal from your own fresh, homegrown veggies. This is a great meal idea for beginner gardeners who don’t have many established edibles. Just look out for baby leaves and edible flowers (make sure you research and clearly identify they are edible). Baby leaves and flowers can add subtle flavours and turn any dish into a work of art!

Be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can see your creations!

Holly 🌱

MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS //
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