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 | Perennials with
Edible Flowers or Foliage
(Please refer to the table below) |
Looking for something to spice up a salad or add a little zing to a recipe? Yes, Virginia...some perennials are edible!
Flowers and edible leaves can make a unique addition to salads, or unusual edible garnishes. However, a few words of warning are
necessary to avoid potential trouble.
Gardeners should always use extreme caution in consuming anything other than the familiar garden vegetable and herbs.
Most growers, ourselves included, avoid using toxic chemical sprays whenever possible, but at times they are relied upon
to control various insects and diseases. Upon purchasing a plant, there is no way to tell whether or not it has been recently
treated with a pesticide product. Each different chemical product has its own life span, the period that a toxic residue may remain on a treated plant. To avoid contact with any toxic residue, newly purchased perennials and herbs should not be consumed for a minimum period of at least 60 days after planting.
Edible flowers should be approached with great care, in general, because of potential allergy problems in sensitive individual.
In particular, anyone with an allergy to Ragweed or any other member of the Daisy family (Asteraceae) should
never consume the flowers or any other parts of these plants. The link above and below will return a list of common members of this plant family.
Add any edible flowers to your diet in small quantities at first, to test the reaction of those eating them. Avoid giving any edible flowers to children under 7 years of age. Children should also be warned to never eat any flowers without the supervision of an adult.
Use extreme caution in selecting and gathering edible flowers, leaves or any other plant parts. Just like with wild mushrooms, erring on the side of caution is advised. If you are not 100 percent sure about the identity of an edible plant, DO NOT EAT IT, even in tiny amounts. Avoid using any toxic plants as attractive garnishes, in case a dinner guest (or anybody else not in the know) should accidentally consume it. Poisoning your guests is not a pleasant way to end a dinner party!
That being said, we've prepared a table with a great sampling of edible plants.
Table: Heritage Perennials With Edible Flowers or Foliage
See also:
Our Poisonous Plants Index.
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