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

Edible flowers – Suggestions for a successful experience:

1. Only eat flowers you are 100 percent sure are edible. Don’t be confused – look up the cultivar. Even a nonpoisonous flower could make you sick. The problem with the poisonous kinds is more serious still.

2. If you plan to decorate with flowers on the plate for effect, think twice. Follow rule No. 1 as a matter of course.

3. Taste the flowers to make sure you want to add them to your plate. A peppery nasturtium flower may be perfect for a zingy salad, but pansies might be better on a sugary cake.

4. Place cut flowers with stems in water in a cool location. For blossoms, cover with a damp paper towel and put in a plastic bag. Don’t wait more than a few hours to use the flowers.

5. When you are ready to use them, wash and dry flowers carefully. You might want to practice with one flower for gentle technique and colorfastness. This is important. Crawling bugs will kill any appetite, no matter how beautifully you present the food.

6. Florists are not the best place to buy edible flowers. Ditto for flowers growing along roads and highways where exhaust coats everything. Imagine ingesting pesticides, herbicides and fungicides with your food and you see the wisdom in this.

7. If you aren’t harvesting edible flowers from your own back yard, buy organically grown flowers from farmers at markets, specialty stores or spice stores.

8. Introduce edible flowers into your diet gradually, especially if you suffer from allergies.

9. Remove the stamens and pistils – the parts that stick up in the middle of the flower – to reduce reactions to pollen. Tweezers works well for this job. Cut off stems and leaves.

10. Do your research. Consult a good herbal reference book from the last 10 years of the 20th century or from the 21st century. Older herbals are interesting but not always up to date. Search Web sites from university extension services for accurate information, then cross-reference fun sites for recipes.

Herb Garden Flowerpot Cheese Spread
Reprinted with permission from “Webster Groves Herb Society Cookbook, Volume III”

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

3 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. each of the following fresh herbs: caraway, thyme, lime thyme, burnet, lovage, basil, fennel, savory, chives, garlic chives, dill, oregano, pineapple sage and nasturtium flowers
Fresh dill and parsley

• Mix all but the final two ingredients together.
• Fill a clean, new plastic flower pot with the mixture, or line a clean clay pot with plastic cling wrap, then fill.
• Chop the dill and parsley and sprinkle it over the spread for a mossy-looking topping.
• If desired, garnish with edible flowers and herb leaves.

Herb and Flower Sandwiches
Reprinted with permission from “Webster Groves Herb Society Cookbook, Volume III”

Yield: 6 servings

12 slices hearty grain bread
Mayonnaise or mustard to taste
Choice of fillings: Thin-sliced roast turkey, grilled chicken, chicken salad or assorted sliced cheeses
6 leaves red-leaf lettuce
12 fresh basil leaves
Nasturtium leaves and flowers to taste
6 tomato slices
6 onion slices

• Cut the bread slices into pretty shapes with a cookie cutter. Spread them with mayonnaise or mustard.
• Assemble the fillings of choice and other ingredients on the bottom slices, starting with the lettuce leaves. Allow the ruffled edge to extend outside the bread.
• Top the sandwiches with the nasturtium leaf and flower and position the top slice of bread so the flowers are visible.

Ramos Gin Fizz

Yield: 1 serving

3 oz. gin
3 drops orange flower water
1 egg white
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 oz. cream (heavy or half and half)
Club soda or seltzer water

• Combine all ingredients except the soda water in a shaker.
• Shake very vigorously at least 1 minute.
• Strain into a very large old-fashioned glass or a similar tall, thin glass.
• Top off the drink with the soda or water and stir.