Posted by Stephanie | Posted in Bulbs, Cut Flowers, Perennials, Roses, Tips and Techniques, Vegetables | Posted on 30-01-2007
I recently sent an email to the Park Seed customer service department asking for interesting or frequent customer questions. When I get a good one, I’ll dig the resident experts for the best answer. We’ll call it the Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (imagine a booming voice with an echo) and I will post them for everyone to enjoy.
Here’s our first Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (again-booming with the echo)
“Do you have a list of edible flowers?”
Apparently conventional fruits and vegetables aren’t hittin’ the spot for these garden gourmets.I took this one the Park Seed senior staff horticulturists. His answer was… drum roll, please…“Yes.” Then he gave me the list. I’ve pasted it below. Mmm… rose pudding. I hope you enjoyed our Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (you get the picture.)
[Disclaimer: don't give me a hard time if I don't post a Park Seed Blog Question of the Day! (yadda, yadda...) everyday- Park Seed Blog Question of the Every Other Day or So! just doesn't have the same ring to it.]
Edible Flowers The following flowers are edible and can be used in a variety of food preparations. Always make sure to use freshly col- lected flowers from plants that have not been sprayed with insecticides or fungicides. Do not use flowers from a florist or flowers collected along the roadside since they may contain pesticides or lead from car exhausts. Never experiment with other flowers since some like Foxglove, Azalea, and Clematis are poisonous when eaten. Harvest flowers and buds in early morning after the dew has dried. Store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel in the bottom. Use only glass, enamel, ceramic, or plastic containers and wooden spoons or spatulas when cooking them. Trim away all stems as close to the flowers or buds as possible and remove the white tips on rose petals since they are bitter. When using flowers in salads, add them after the dressing. Flower Use Anise Hyssop Tea, marinade, Chinese dishes Apple blossoms Salads Bellis (English Daisy) Slightly bitter. Salads Black Locust (Robinia) Fritters Borage Cucumber flavor. Potato salad, cottage cheese, tossed salad, cream cheese, potato soup, fruit salad, cake, and canape decora- tion, frozen in ice cubes added to summer drinks Calendula (Pot Marigold) Adds subtle flavor and golden color to soups, salads, bis- cuits, rice, & egg dishes Carnation Soups, stews, sauces, salads, stuffed peppers, marmalade, butter, pickled Cercis (Redbud) Salads, pickles, fritters Buds pickled Chamomile Tea, salads Chives Mild onion flavor for vege- tables, omelets, cream cheese, salads Chrysanthemum Slightly bitter. Salads, soups Cinnamon Basil Fruit salad, chutney, sweet and sour dishes, marinades for chicken or ribs Cornflower Salads Cress Salads Dandelion buds Omelets, salads, marinated, pickled Daylily Oriental stir fry, boiled and buttered, battered and fried Dill Pickles Elder (Sambucus) Cheesecake, fritters, candied, pancakes, muffins Fragipani (Plumeria) Stuffed with corn meal or melted cheese Garlic Chives Mild garlic flavor Geranium Mildly sweet Hollyhock Buds in salads and omelets; flowers in sandwiches Hosta Salads Jasmine (jasminum polyanthum) Salads Lavender Salads, teas Lilac Salads Lemon blossoms Salads, teas Marigold Used fresh or dried. Chowders, salads, rice dishes, broths, custards, cookies, muffins, sandwiches, pickled Mignonette Dry, crush, mix with salt, veal, and lamb dishes Mimosa Salads Mints (except pennyroyal) Teas, salads, vegetables Nasturtium Light, peppery flavor; salads stews, soups, sandwiches, omelets, seafood, cheese spreads; pickled buds Orange blossoms Salads, teas Pansy & Johnny Jump Up Vegetable and fruit salads, candied cake decorations Petunia Sweet flavor Pineapple Sage Teas, salads Plum blossoms Salads Primrose (Primula vulgaris Candied cake decorations, & veris) salads Red Clover Salads, spinach, turnips and greens, with butter on toast Red Bergamot (Monarda) Mellow mint-citrus flavor, fruit salads, vegetables, tea Rosemary Slightly bitter; soups, meat dishes, vinegars, butter, or cream cheese Rose - all but especially Fresh or dried; cakes, puddings, Gallicas and Damasks honey, syrup, vinegar, candied, salads, sandwiches Safflower Provide color and flavor as a substitute for Saffron; soup stock, rice Sage Cold salads Salsify buds Omelets, marinated, salads, pickled Scarlet Runner Beans Salads Squash blossoms Stuffed, fritters, omelets Sugar Snap Peas Salads Sweet Acacia (A. farnesiana) Candied or in ice cream Sweet Cicely Syrups, sweets Verbena Dry, crush, mix with salt; veal and lamb dishes Violets (Viola odorata) Salads, sauces, fritters, custards, candied, cakes, sandwiches
Cheers,
Thomas
Fruit Wood
Querciabella Camartina Toscana 1996 – - Hardware Software DVD Mo
Deadly accutare answer. You\’ve hit the bullseye!