Flower Power: Plant edible blooms in time for a scrumptious spring

When March roars in, take time to seed shop. Not only is the selection at its best, some flowers need a head start indoors to be ready to eat this spring and summer. That’s right. We’re talking edible flowers to brighten cakes and salads or to surprise in tea sandwiches and frothy drinks. Just in case you think flowers belong only on tables, ladylike and delicate, here’s news. According to Glenn Kopp, instructional coordinator for adult programs at the Missouri Botanical Garden, some foods we think are vegetables are actually flowers. Broccoli, cauliflower and the newer broccoflower, for example. “Artichokes are flowers, too, while capers and cloves are unopened flower buds,” he said. Imagine that. Flowers have been flavoring our foods since before the Old Testament named dandelions one of the bitter herbs. The fashion for eating flowers waxes and wanes, but Pat Rutherford-Pettine, owner of Sugaree Baking Company, credits lifestyle diva Martha Stewart with creating the current fashion for edible flowers. “I’ve always used flowers on cakes, even before Martha, but she made people notice,” Rutherford-Pettine said. “She made edible flowers a trend.” Rutherford-Pettine layers and tops her perfect cake towers with fresh roses, pansies, daisies and all manner of flowering goodness. Of course, flowers fit to eat must be grown organically. No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides need apply. You don’t need to grow your own, however. Find edible flowers in specialty stores like Whole Foods Market. “We don’t carry edible flowers year-round, but we have them for the holidays, like Easter,” said Lin Alberti-Hall, assistant team leader in produce. “Our Jacobs Farm mixture of organically grown pansies, dandelions and roses is a good choice,” she said. “Butters are popular mixed with the flowers, as well as in salads and for decoration.” And even though the roses at Whole Foods are organically grown, floral associate Kelly Diamond discourages customers from eating them. “They are organic but not food quality,” Diamond said. Instead, Alberti-Hall and Diamond encourage customers to shop the floral department for seeds to grow edible flowers in the home garden. At Rolling Ridge Nursery, edible flowers and flowering herbs are available in seed packets or as bedding plants. Greenhouse manager Chris Wagner noticed a steady 10-year rise in the popularity of edible flowers and herbs. “Because of Martha Stewart, our customers are trying flowers, mostly pansies, violas and dianthus, in food and salads,” he said. Rolling Ridge carries a large stock of herbs, which also produce flavorful flowers. “We carry lots of basil – cinnamon, Thai, Genovese and spicy globe compact. We have varieties of lavender, chives and rosemary,” he said. Nasturtiums, with the peppery leaves and flowers Thomas Jefferson so enjoyed in salads, are also available at Rolling Ridge from the same herb supplier as bedding plants. Flowers know how to let loose, too. The secret ingredients in the wonderful liqueur Chartreuse are carnation petals. And a Ramos Gin Fizz wouldn’t be complete without pungent orange flower water. Find both at The Wine and Cheese Place in Rock Hill. Manager Amy Jackson said they sometimes carry rose flower water, too. According to Jackson, “The orange flower water smells so wonderful you almost want to coat your body with it. It’s just a hint under overpowering but wonderful.” She suggested culinary uses as well, like splashing a little rose or orange flower water in a fruit salad or using either to flavor pastry dough. Edible flowers are just the thing to pique the interest of budding gardeners and gourmets. Nasturtium seeds, fat as peas and wrinkled as walnuts, are perfect for young gardeners to plant. Ditto for sunflowers, which, when fully grown, can rival Jack’s beanstalk in the mammoth varieties. Eating nasturtium-flower tea sandwiches and toasting sunflower seeds are fun culinary adventures young children will savor. Greenhouse manager Chris Wagner of Rolling Ridge Nursery helped develop this table for planting edible flowers and herbs, both seeds and plants. Edible flowers: Bachelor buttons, borage, calendula, chrysanthemums, day lilies, dianthus, fuschia, geraniums, hollyhocks, lavender, marigolds, nasturtium, orchids, pansies, roses, snap dragons, squash blossoms, stock, violas, violets Herbs with edible flowers: Basil, chives, comfrey, lavender, oregano, sage, savory, rosemary Blossoms big enough to stuff: Pumpkin, summer squash, winter squash, zucchini Flowers to batter for deep-fried fritters: Hollyhock, lilac, pumpkin, squash, fruit blossoms Flowers to infuse with cider vinegar for flavored vinegars: Cinnamon, lemon, and lime basils; lavender; rosemary, thyme (Add flowering tops to cider vinegar. Allow the flavors to develop about two weeks.) Flowers for salad surprises: Basil flowers, calendula, early chive blossoms, dandelion leaves and buds, dianthus, marigolds, nasturtium flowers and leaves, scented geranium leaves Flowers in teas: Borage, chamomile, jasmine, lavender, red clover, rosemary, rose hips (actually, the fruit of the rose) Seeds to start indoors in March: Bachelor buttons, calendula, chives, geraniums, lavender, marigolds, nasturtium, snapdragons, basil, comfrey, oregano, summer savory Seeds to sow directly in the garden: March – hollyhocks Mid to late April – bachelor buttons May – squash (including zucchini, pumpkin, summer squash) Bedding plants for the garden: Mid to late March – day lilies, pansies, violas, sage, rosemary April to May – most bedding plants June – fuschia