How to grow edible flowers
From cornflowers to dahlias and pansies to nasturtiums, there are a huge number of edible flowers you can easily grow in your own garden. Perfect to decorate cakes, or to brighten up a summer salad, growing edible flowers is a fun way to add some creativity to your cooking!
A surprising number of flowers are edible, and they have a huge variety of flavours, colours and textures. Flowers can feature as part of a main dish – such as the Italian delicacy of stuffed courgette flowers – but are more commonly used in the UK as a garnish and are especially becoming a very popular way to decorate a wedding cake.
Which flowers are edible?
It is very important to know that not all flowers are edible and some can be very harmful if consumed so you need to know exactly what you are eating.
These are some of the most popular edible flowers, though there are many more!
Borage
Calendula
Cornflower
Nasturtiums
Marigolds
Pansies
Pea flowers
Peony petals (if you can bear to pick apart such a beautiful flower to eat it!)
Rose petals
Sunflowers
Violets
Where to buy them
Flowers are not easy to wash, and so any that have been sprayed with any sort of pesticide or herbicide are toxic, and should not be used anywhere near food. Don't eat or decorate a cake with flowers from a florist or supermarket, as they may have been sprayed with chemicals or may be toxic to consume. It is quite scary how many cakes I have seen recently at friend’s weddings and in magazines that have been decorated with poisonous flowers; some even poked directly into the cakes!
If you want to buy flowers to eat, then head for a specialist grower. There are a number of small family farms in the UK that specialise in edible flowers that sell their flowers online: check out Greens of Devon (www.greensofdevon.com) and Maddocks Farm (www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk). The websites of both are packed with helpful information, including recipes that use flowers for cakes, cocktails and salads.
How to grow them
Even better, though, grow them yourself! So many edible species are really easy to grow from seed in your own garden. Many websites that sell seeds now have sections specifically dedicated to edible flowers. Take a look at Sarah Raven’s edible flowers selection or for a really easy starting point, Jekka’s has a pre-chosen seed collection with five different edible flowers.
Most of the edible flowers grown from seed will be ready to eat within one growing season. Sow the seed in Spring and transplant on when big enough; the plant will usually flower by the Summer or early Autumn. Care for it as you would any plant in the garden, and once the flowers appear you can pick them and use them for food.
When growing, make sure you don’t spray the flowers with any chemicals, such as bug sprays, and don’t use any weedkiller in the vicinity of anything you plan to eat.
To pick, select the best flowers only. Give the flowers a shake to check there are no bugs hiding inside! Wash by rinsing under a gentle flow from the tap, so as not to bruise or crush them.
Edible flowers are best used as fresh as possible- so decorate your cakes at the very last minute so they stay looking at their best. Flowers can also be crystallised (using egg whites and sugar) which helps them last longer.
