Let your garden blossom with food and medicine

Bernice Shepherd

Summer is nearly here and flowers are blooming everywhere.

But not only do flowers fill our streets with beauty and fragrance, some are edible.

Whether it is chocolates infused with lavender, rose or native ingredients such as lemon myrtle, violets crystallised on a cake or an assortment of petals in a salad, flowers are being used more widely in the kitchen.

Here are some common flowers you can add to your pantry.

Rose. Long used in exotic fragrances from the Middle East, roses (see pic above) have also been enjoyed as a culinary ingredient for centuries. Turkish delight infused with rose petals is pure indulgence, but a less known Middle Eastern favourite is rose jam – a whole new level of decadence.

Nasturtium. The leaves and flowers are mustardy hot and are a colourful addition to salads (see pic below), as well as being packed with vitamin C. An added bonus is the sweet spike-shaped petal at the base that is full of nectar. And you can use the pickled seeds as a substitute for capers.

Borage. Sometimes known as bee bush, the pretty little blue flowers taste like cucumber. You can trap them in ice cubes to add a touch of class to your summer fruit punch.

Zucchini flowers. An Italian treat, zucchini (or squash or pumpkin) flowers stuffed with cheese and herbs then pan fried are attractive and delicious. Use the male flowers on the long stems, not the female ones with the swollen base because these bear the fruit.

Pansies, violas and native or English violets. These beautiful little flowers can be used to brighten salads, cakes or ice cream (see viola pic below) .

Calendula. This lovely and useful garden staple is not only good for attracting bees, deterring soil pests and making a soothing skin tonic, the orange petals can be used in salads or even cooked up with rice in place of saffron. Take care not to use the green part – it is bitter.

Runner bean flowers. Flowers of edible beans and peas can be eaten and have a beany or pea flavour, but you might not want to pick the flowers before they become pods. Runner beans produce prolifically so you probably won’t miss a few sacrificed at the flower stage.

Fruit blossom. The flowers of orange trees have been used for centuries throughout the Middle East and India to flavour desserts and drinks. Many other fruit tree flowers are edible such as feijoa (see pic below) and apple blossom that can be harvested when thinning a crop.

Herb flowers. Culinary herbs such as basil, rocket and coriander often have edible flowers with a taste similar to the herb. When annual herbs bolt in hot weather it is a good idea to cut any flowers off to get more leaf growth – and you can use the cut flowers in your salad.

Native flowers. Native Australian flowers are stunningly beautiful and worth growing for that alone. Some of them are edible too. First Nations people have enjoyed them as a sugar hit for millennia. Suck the nectar out of a grevillea or bottlebrush (see pic below) to see why the birds love them so much. Or you can steep them in water for a sweet sugary drink. Take care to first rescue any insects that might be in the flower.

Many herb flowers are medicinal and soothing to drink – such as chamomile that helps sleep. Others are purely medicinal, such as feverfew (see pic below), said to be good for headaches if taken regularly – if you can stand the bitter brew.

There are many more flowers that can be used as food or medicine, so why not investigate and grow your own colourful, fragrant and edible garden.

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