Flowers are beautiful and their cheery blooms will make you smile, add beauty to your garden, and can have medicinal uses. But did you know there are quite a few blooms that are also quite tasty?
Take a look at these 8 edible flowers you should consider growing in your vegetable garden.
1. CALENDULA
These flowers taste a lot like saffron but without the high price tag. They are tangy, peppery, spicy and offer a golden hue to the dish that they are cooked in.
Plant calendula in your veggie garden to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. The orange and yellow flowers provide nectar all season long to butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
2. NASTURTIUM
These long-lived, late summer buds are often pickled. Some people enjoy using them in place of capers as they are sweet, peppery and mildly pungent.
These pretty old-fashioned annual flowers not only add color and cheer to your garden but also do wonders protecting your tomato plants. The deter whiteflies, squash bugs, beetles, and aphids while keeping fungal disease at bay. Although they are annual, they often reseed making them an even more delightful addition.
3. BORAGE
The exotic-looking flowers from this plant taste refreshing, like a cucumber. They can be candied for decorative pieces on baked goods, used as a garnish or tossed in salads. Borage does have a diuretic effect and should not be consumed in large quantities.
The pretty blue flowers of borage make a perfect strawberry companion plant. The blooms bring pollinators to improve fruit set on your strawberry plants. They’re also said to deter caterpillars on your tomatoes and cabbage plants.
4. CHIVES
Not only are these pinkish-purple flowers stunning in your garden, they offer a mild onion flavor you may have enjoyed on a loaded baked potato a time or two. Chives are also ideal to add to cream cheese and dips, casseroles, sautéed vegetables and salads.
This pretty herb not only helps improve the taste of tomatoes but also helps repel aphids and makes a great addition to any tomato salad.
5. ROSES
Believe it or not, roses contain more vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable. Rugosa roses or other older varieties typically offer the most flavor. They are often used to make jam, syrup and tea, or used as a garnish.
As the bush gets large, it can also provide some shade for veggies that don’t love the heat like kale and chard, and they grow naturally near heat-loving veggies like tomatoes, squash, and cucumber plants.
6. MINT
The blossoms for mint plants are ideal for tea but they can also be used in salads or as a garnish. Other members of this family include bee balm and lemon balm.
Mint is an aromatic perennial herb that can become invasive. It is best to plant mint in your garden in pots so that it does not overrun the show. Although we may think that the aroma of mint is lovely, pests really hate it. Planting some mint near your tomato plants will even keep small rodents away.
7. SQUASH BLOSSOMS
Do you have squash growing in your garden? If so, don’t dismiss those vibrant yellow blossoms that the plants offer. These are the perfect flowers to stuff as an eye-catching appetizer. Alternatively, you can dip them in egg and flour and fry them like a fritter.
Squash grows well with garlic and onions, and they are an essential component along with corn and pole beans in the classic ‘Three Sisters’ companion gardening technique.
8. DAYLILIES
These elegant blossoms may seem like they would be hard to grow but they’re not. Since they grow in nearly any type of soil as long as it drains well, anyone can enjoy them. Similar to squash blossoms, they can be fried or stuffed with soft cheeses.
Their bright flowers in an array of colors attract lots of pollinators and hummingbirds, so in an area where they have plenty of space these bright blooming flowers are not only pretty but can help your garden flourish.