Best Edible Flowers to Grow in Your Garden

You won’t believe the number of pretty flower petals that you can nibble on while out in the garden, toss into a salad, or create some of the loveliest garnishes!

Read on how chemical-free posies can add a whole new layer of beauty to your recipes, and drinks, and upgrade your gourmet culinary and plating game to make you feel like a top chef!

Important Cautionary Info

• First and most importantly - it is vital to know what plant families you are possibly allergic to and what family each flower on this list belongs to. You can either get an allergy test or go through the Universal Edibility Test to see if you have a reaction without the stomach upset - or worse.

• It is very important that you research your plant in question and only sample plants you are ABSOLUTELY certain of their identification. So many look-a-likes and related varieties may not be tasty, edible, or even safe.

• If you bought your bouquet from a florist, most likely they are steeped in pesticides and chemical preservatives - so don’t sample those flowers either!

• You also need to be absolutely sure that the environment the plants have been grown is safe and not polluted. Avoid locations that are near roads, in ditches, around waste areas, vacant lots, drainage channels, and locations you cannot - without a doubt - confirm have not been sprayed or grown in contaminated soil! Even pesticide drift, chemical fertilizers, and other sprays or airborne contaminants are potentially harmful to you (and subsequently - your pollinators!). 

Always know what goes into and on your edible plants and flowers! Finding an organic source or one you have grown in your own yard where you can control its environment to be safe.

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  Also - gather responsibly! Bees and other pollinators rely on flowers for food, as well as the plant itself, which relies on these blooms for the next generation of seeds. Plus you wouldn’t want to deprive yourself of the visual beauty they lend your garden beds!

• Moderation! Once you find something you like, don’t overindulge! These are wonderful seasonal treats.

• Many flowers and plants have oxalic acid that can cause issues with gout, absorbing nutrients, and other problems, so moderation is essential. But remember - spinach and kale, beets, and chard, among many other widely eaten forms of produce also have oxalic acid. While lower in level, cooking and certain gut bacteria can break it down and stop it from binding to nutrients and minerals.

• Lastly, all because something is ‘edible’ - doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste good! Many of these flowers, while edible, are mostly used as a pretty garnish to dress up your meal. Some edible flowers are highly regarded as survival foods and not meant to be a regular addition to the family dinner table.

Preparing Your Petals

Once you are absolutely certain what plant you have and are 100% certain they are grown in a safe environment - pick the organically-grown flowers when they have first opened (in most cases), in the late morning after allowing dew to dry naturally in the morning sun. Lay them out in a shady area for a time to allow any ‘inhabitants’ a chance to escape.

Then give your petals a quick wash and lay them out on a paper towel to allow excess moisture to evaporate while you pick off the green sepals or lower calyx (these can be bitter). You can also remove the inner stamen and pistils too. Don’t let them dry out too much and keep your petals spaced apart so they don’t stick together.

Use immediately or store in a container with some air ventilation with a slightly damp paper towel inside it to maintain humidity and freshness without being too wet which can lead to rot. Petals are very delicate and they taste the best when used as soon as possible. You can also freeze petals and small flowers in ice cubes, or dry them to preserve them for later use.

Using Edible Flowers

Often with a mild flavor, sometimes sweet, sometimes with a spicy flavor like black pepper, flowers have a delicate, subtle flavor that combines what you’d think a flower might taste like with their scent and any aromatics the plant itself has in general.

Have fun including flowers in your diet for an added layer of seasonal flavor experiences! Flowers are also a source of many bioactive compounds and antioxidants, in addition to rare minerals and phytochemicals you’d not normally get in your 'usual' diet.

Organically grown edible flowers and petals can be:

• Sprinkled over salads and pizzas
• Crystalized or sugared for desserts
• Wrapped into fresh spring rolls
• Mixed into or topping cheese, cream cheese, and other cheese spreads
• Added to herbal butter or herb-infused oil
• Baked into cookies, bread, and rolls
• Infused into vinegar, sugars, honey, and syrups
• You can dry them for steeping in tea and drinks
• Fermented as fizzy drinks or used to create floral liqueurs
• Make colorful and unique jellies and preserves
• Or just as a pretty fresh garnish to dress up your presentation game!

Remember! Ensure you have accurately identified your plants beyond any doubt. And moderation is key when trying any new plant or flower! Do your research!

Tastiest Edible Flowers For You - Plus A Few You May Not Have Known Are Edible!

• All Herb Flowers can be used to nibble on - they usually have a similar flavor as the leaves. Edible Onion/Garlic/Chives flowers are just as edible too (but not Ornamental onions/flowering Allium). Go ahead and nibble on your Mints, Chamomiles, Dill and Fennel, Hyssops, Basil, and Oregano blooms to your heart's content!

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  Apple/Crabapple, Apricot, Peach, Plum, Nectarine, Pear, and fruiting Cherry Blossoms - the petals can be used as fresh garnish, added to salads and desserts, or dried to add to tea. They even have many purported medicinal benefits too! This includes most other stone fruit tree varieties and Almond petals because they’re all in the Rose family! Try mixing some into herbed butter, baked goods, infused into vinegar and oil, simple syrups, liqueurs, or frozen in ice cubes!

• Bee Balm - also known as Monarda, Bergamot, and Oswego tea, Bee Balms have a strong herbal, pungent flavor and are fantastically colorful and medicinal.

• Borage - besides its medicinal benefits, the flowers are beautiful blue garnish and flavor drinks (while scratchy, the leaves can be sauteed too!)

• Calendula - Known as the “Pot Marigold” the petals and leaves can be used in many culinary applications for hundreds of years. Mild and slightly bitter. Great in soups, as a garnish, adding the traditional yellow color to cheese, and great for poultry dishes.

• Celosia - also known as Cockscomb, has long been eaten as a leafy green in Central and West Africa. The young flowers have been used in culinary applications - cooked, boiled, or mixed into sauces and stew.

• Citrus Flowers - not just known for their delicious fruit, but the extraordinarily fragrant white flowers of many Citrus trees can be used as aromatic garnish and in beverages! Try adding a few to simple syrups, in iced tea, or in your next batch of preserves for a perfumed flavor.

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  Clover - despite being considered weeds, the purple flowers of Red Clover, and the blooms of White Clover have been a medicinal edible plant for a long time as well! Favorites of bees and kids, many grew up sucking the nectar out of the ends of the tubular petals as you would Honeysuckle. The blooms can be scattered into any fresh dish, used in your baking, or dried for tea. Imparting a sweet green bean-like flavor. Try clover jelly! The leaves of Red Clover have been dried and used as a vanilla extract substitute and they’re considered edible when cooked like spinach as well!

• Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) - the unusual-looking flowers actually have a slight, sweet flavor. Be sure to remove the stems and avoid the leaves. Like Honeysuckle, you can taste the sweet nectar by nibbling on the ends of the flowers.

• Cornflower/Bachelor's Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) - have a mild, sweet taste, and add intense blue pops of color to your favorite spring and summer dishes and beverages!

• Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) - the orange-petalled native variety of simple Cosmos have edible petals and leaves. Having a delicate floral, sweet taste, use them in salads and beverages. Pink-flowering Cosmos caudatus is grown for its edible young shoots.

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  Dahlia - the flowers, petals, and even tubers of Dahlia are considered edible, with a flavor that varies from water chestnut to spicy apple to carrot-like depending on where/how they are grown. Most of these plants are far too pretty in the garden to use beyond sprinkling a few onto your salads to surprise your next brunch guests!

• Common Daisy (Bellis perennis) - the petals can be sprinkled over salads and as garnish for a slightly spicy, nutty, and slightly bitter taste. Common Daisies have also been dried for tea.

• Currant Bushes (Ribes rubrum/Ribes nigrum) - both the flowers and young leaves of the fruiting Red Currant and Black Currant bush have a fruity, floral taste but we especially love them for their healthy fruit, so don’t harvest too many. But go ahead and sample a few!

• Dandelions - you might have heard of the many health benefits of Dandelions as of late, from their highly nutrient-dense leaves, and edible/medicinal roots that can be dried as a coffee/tea substitute, but even those golden flowers are tasty delights too! Widely used in baked goods, salads, as garnish, baked on pizzas to made into dandelion jelly and even dandelion wine! When you think of how beneficial they are for your pollinators, you may not think of Dandelions as just weeds any longer.

• Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) - Daylily buds or petals can be added to salads and sauteed. Some people do say they can have some stomach upset, so start small! With a green bean to asparagus flavor in bud form, open petals can be mild like lettuce. Even the tubers and young shoots are considered edible, but we’d leave them to brighten your garden unless you need survival food.

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  Dianthus (Carnation/Garden Pinks) - have flowers with a flavor similar to their smell - with a sweet, spicy scent that's similar to cloves. Great for flavoring rice, fresh in salads, flavoring oil and vinegar, cocktails, and desserts! We love Dianthus for its abundant low-growing spring display!

• Eastern Redbud Trees (Cercis canadensis) - Those pea-family flowers are an early spring treat for pollinators and wildcrafters alike. Sprinkle the fresh buds onto salads and mix into herbal butter. They have a snow pea-like flavor and can be made into jelly, added to relish, or even pickled. The young seedpods have been used like pea pods in stir-fries.

• Elderberry (Sambucus) - not just the fruit, but the flowers too have many edible applications! However, the stems and foliage are toxic! Traditionally, the petals have been dried as tea, and in Elderflower cordials known as St. Germain.

• Fuchsia - Yes! Those ornamental hanging basket flowers we love on our shady porches are considered edible! Considered to have a spicy fruity flavor. And if they produce berries when pollinated - they are edible too with a tart cherry flavor. Just don’t go munching on the Fuchsia you just picked up from the garden center as they probably have pesticides and fertilizers on them.

• Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) - the incredibly perfumed white flowers of the Gardenia bush can be eaten raw, pickled, for making infused honey, or just used as a fragrant garnish.

• Gladiolus - the petals have a leafy and slightly tart taste. The entire flower can be used as a small bowl for dip and condiments, or you can mix the petals into salsas, combined with seafood and fruit, or simply as a garnish.

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  Guava Trees - the showy flower sprays of the Guava (Feijoa) have outstanding flowers for garnish and a flavor similar to cotton candy!

• Hibiscus/Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) - is preferred for the fruity red tart tea. Hardy or Tropical Ornamental Hibiscus can be used as a garnish and eaten in moderation. In the Mallow family, many of the plants in this family have edible petals!

• Honeysuckle (Lonicera) - Anyone that sucked the nectar out of the ends of a Honeysuckle plant as a kid knows just how sweet and fragrant they can be! The Common/European Honeysuckle and Japanese Honeysuckle flowers can be eaten, added to drinks, made into syrups, and dried for tea. They lend their sweet nectar to any dessert, preserves, or beverage! They’re sweetly fragrant however you use them!

• Hosta Plants - Not only are the young, unopened shoots eaten as a vegetable called Urui in Japan, but the flowers in small quantities add a pretty but bland flavor and are usually used as garnish.

• Japanese Magnolia Tree (Magnolia liliiflora) - has flowers that have a spicy ginger to cardamon flavor and can be dried or used fresh as a ginger substitute. Infuse into vinegar or use in salads and salad dressing, baked goods, and stir-fries!

• Jasmine blossoms (Jasmine officinale only!) - are not really eaten but are often added to beverages and dried for tea blends. Adding a sweet, perfumed flavor to your drinks. False Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is toxic, so know which you have first!

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  Lilac Shrub Flowers - make pretty jelly, or sweet syrups, or use the flowers of your Lilacs for a gorgeous and sweet garnish! The syrup made from Lilac flowers is a pretty purple but will change pink before your eyes when you add an acid like lemon juice.

• Marigolds - for a spicy funky flavor, the strong pungent petals of the common Marigold are great in many culinary preparations! Some have more spicy flavors, other varieties can have a citrusy flavor, and others may be tasteless but pretty garnish.

• Mimosa/Persian Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin) has flowers that have been traditionally used as a vegetable in some cuisines.

• Mums - You can eat your organically-grown Chrysanthemums! Used as medicinals for thousands of years, the petals can be dried for tea, used as a garnish, in salads, and imparts a mild, flowery chamomile-like taste. The leaves and stems of specifically the Chrysanthemum coronarium species can also be blanched or eaten raw in salads - known as shungiku or kikuna in Japan.

• Nasturtium - both the dramatic and colorful flowers and unusual disk-shaped leaves can be eaten fresh in salads, added to sandwiches, or made into an amazing pesto! They have a mild horseradish or black pepper-like flavor.

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  Orchids - Many orchid petals are a pretty garnish and have been used in culinary and medicinal preparations in many cultures. Many brides love decorating their wedding cakes in orchids or sugared orchids! Plus the Vanilla Orchid is prized for its seed pods.

• Pansies/Violas/Wild Garden Violets - with flowers that are said to be sweet and floral. Often added to salads, sprinkled over cold dishes and desserts, drinks or made into a pretty jelly or syrup. Try sugaring them for a pretty dessert garnish! Avoid the yellow varieties as they can cause some stomach upset and for best flavor, remove the green base of each flower. Try making a simple syrup that is a beautiful bluish purple but changes to bright purple-pink when you add lemon juice!

• Passionfruit Vines - not only are the Passionfruits a delight to eat, but the Passionflowers too are completely edible when grown organically. With a richly floral taste and sweet after-flavor, use these dazzling blooms as a decorative garnish on cakes, bread, on charcuterie, and dessert trays.

• Primrose (Primrose polyanthus/Primula polyantha or Primula vulgaris) - is sweet and fragrant, and can be sugared (crystalized) as dessert decoration, or sprinkled onto salads and as garnish. They’ve even been cooked as a vegetable, sprinkled over tarts, and mixed into jams and conserves.

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  Roses (Rosa) both bushes and climbing - chemical-free, organic Rose petals and Rose Hip are beautiful and tasty additions to your diet! Use the petals for jam, jelly, beverages, or top salads and desserts, or dry the hips for tea and jam.

• Snapdragons - in small quantities, Snapdragon flowers add beauty to your food despite their flavor being pretty bland but that means they can be used in sweet or savory meals. Some can have a very mildly sweet/bitter taste. We’d recommend that you avoid the bedding plants you buy for your outdoor seasonal containers and find a more organically grown source instead.

• Strawberry Plants (Fragaria ananassa/Fragaria virginiana) - while prized for their fruit, the Strawberry flowers (and even leaves) are edible! Use the petals as garnish or dry with the leaves for tea and beverages. But leave most of them on the plant for the succulent red fruit!

• Sunflower petals - the young leaves can be steeped as tea, eaten fresh or sauteed too! While Sunflower buds that are unopened and prepared right, taste like artichokes!

• Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) - the flowers, stems, and leaves have a peppery flavor! Again, find an organic source and not the ones you buy in the box store as bedding and container ornamentals.

• Tuberous Begonia - the citrus-flavored petals and flowers of Tuberous Begonia varieties are pretty edible garnish and dessert decorations. Top fruit dishes, and salads, and add to smoothies. Even the stems have been used as a rhubarb substitute because of a similar tart flavor. Only Tuberous Begonia are edible and others are not, so know which you have before having a nibble!

• Vegetable flowers - try stuffed squash or zucchini blossoms (use the male flowers after they’ve performed their pollination jobs), fresh or dried arugula flowers, bean and pea flowers, broccoli flowers (the opened kind when you forgot to harvest them in time!), cucumber flowers, mustard flowers, and radish flowers.

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) - has long been used as a medicinal herb, the peppery leaves and flowers can be tossed into salads or as a pop of color in condiments.

Pretty Enough To Eat!

Adding flowers and petals to your culinary creations adds extra nutrients, unexpected flavor, and upscale presentation to your dining table when you use them as more than just a pretty table centerpiece!

Sprinkle on some floral confetti over the dishes in your next spring dinner party or summer brunch! You’ll be the talk of the town!

Armed with research and knowledge beforehand, you will be able to add a whole new layer of visual and flavorful delights to even the most boring and everyday meals and beverages - by including safe, edible flowers and flower petals!

Happy Planting!