What Flowers Can You Eat? A Guide to Edible Flowers You Can Grow

Here’s a little secret that turns an ordinary supper into something rather magical: some of the prettiest things in your garden are also delicious. So if you’ve ever gazed at a border in full bloom and wondered what flowers can you eat, pop the kettle on and settle in, because you’re about to discover a whole pantry hiding in plain sight.

Edible flowers are the horticultural equivalent of finding a fiver in an old coat pocket. They’re already growing (or about to be), they cost you next to nothing, and they transform a plate from “very nice” to “how on earth did you do that?” in the time it takes to scatter a few petals. Best of all, when you grow your own edible flowers from seed, you know exactly what’s gone into them: no mystery sprays, no supermarket cellophane, just you, some soil and a bit of sunshine.

Let’s dig in.

First things first: are all flowers edible?

No, and this is the bit we need to get right before anyone starts nibbling the borders. Plenty of flowers are edible and utterly wonderful, but plenty of others are decidedly not, and a fair few are downright poisonous. The golden rule of the kitchen garden is simple: only eat flowers you can identify with total confidence and that you know have been grown for eating.

That means giving florist bouquets and garden-centre bedding plants a wide berth (they’re often treated with chemicals you really don’t want on your dinner) and never foraging on a hunch. The safest, happiest route is to grow your own from seed, so you can pick your blooms fresh, chemical-free and bursting with flavour.

A few housekeeping tips before we get to the good stuff. Harvest your flowers in the early morning, once the dew has dried but before the sun turns them limp, as this is when they’re at their most perky and full of flavour. Give each bloom a gentle shake to evict any resident bees or ladybirds, pick over the petals, and for most flowers you’ll want to remove the bitter white heel at the base of the petal along with the pollen-heavy centres. Then you’re ready to play.

The edible flowers worth growing (and eating)

Here are our favourite edible flowers to grow, each one earning its place in the veg patch for looks and taste.

Nasturtiums

If you only grow one edible flower, make it the nasturtium. Every single part is edible: the jewel-bright flowers, the round lily-pad leaves and even the green seed pods, which you can pickle like capers. The flavour is gloriously peppery, a bit like rocket but far less prone to bolting in a hot summer, which makes the leaves a brilliant addition to green salads and the whole flowers a showstopper draped over savoury dishes.

We’re rather smitten with the sultry Nasturtium Purple Emperor and the dramatic Nasturtium Bloody Mary, but if you fancy something softer, Nasturtium Peach Melba is all creamy petals and blushing centres. Scatter them over a peppery salad, tuck them into a cheese sandwich, or float a flower head in a summer cocktail and watch everyone swoon.

Calendula

Also known as pot marigold, Calendula officinalis has been earning its keep in kitchen gardens for centuries. The petals have a mild, gently tangy flavour and, most impressively, a rich golden colour that has long made them the thrifty cook’s saffron substitute. Stir them through rice dishes, risottos and soups for a warm amber glow, or sprinkle them fresh over savoury dishes and salad dressings for confetti-bright colour.

The huge double blooms of Calendula Orange King are as generous as they are cheerful, while Calendula Pink Surprise brings unexpectedly dreamy dusky-pink flowers to the party. Both are incredibly easy to grow and will keep flowering their hearts out if you keep picking.

Violas and Pansies

For sheer daintiness, nothing beats a viola. Their delicate flavour is faintly sweet with a whisper of wintergreen, and their perfect little faces are simply made to decorate cakes. This is the flower to reach for when you want to make candied violets: paint the petals with egg white, dust with caster sugar, leave to set, and you’ve got edible jewels for your bakes and puddings.

The painterly Viola Brush Strokes and the moody, velvety Pansy Giant Black are our go-to varieties. Press whole flowers into buttercream, freeze them into pretty ice cubes for cold drinks, or scatter them over a fruit salad for instant enchantment.

Cornflowers

There are few truer blues in nature than a cornflower, which is exactly why these brightly coloured petals are such a treat sprinkled over pale dishes, from soft cheeses to lemon drizzle. The flavour is mild with a gentle, slightly clove-like sweetness, and the petals hold their colour beautifully, so they’re ideal for freezing into ice cubes or scattering to decorate cakes.

Go classic with the true-blue Cornflower Polka Dots, or keep things elegant and pale with Cornflower The Bride.

Dahlias

Here’s the fact that stops most people in their tracks: dahlias are edible from top to toe. The petals of these flamboyant blooms have a crisp texture and a mild flavour that shifts from variety to variety, somewhere between water chestnut and a mild carrot, so peel them from the flower heads and toss them raw through green salads. But don’t stop at the flowers, because the tubers are edible too. Long before dahlias became the darling of the cut-flower patch, they were grown by the Aztecs as a root vegetable, and those knobbly tubers you lift and store over winter can just as happily go in the kitchen. Their flavour is often likened to a cross between a potato, a water chestnut and a radish, ranging from earthy to faintly spicy depending on the variety, and they can be roasted, grated raw into a slaw, or sliced thinly and crisped up like a posh crisp. Peel them, give the flesh a taste first (flavour really does vary), and treat them much as you would any root veg. The gorgeously varied Dahlia Bishop’s Children gives you a whole spectrum of jewel shades from a single packet, so you get a summer of petals and a harvest of tubers to dig into once the borders fade.

Sunflowers, Marigolds & more

The petals of a sunflower have a bittersweet, faintly nutty taste and look wonderful scattered over a summer table, while the young, unopened flower buds can be steamed and eaten rather like an artichoke. Tagetes marigolds such as the fiery Marigold Lucy’s Starburst bring a zingy citrus taste that’s brilliant in savoury dishes. For something aromatic, the Agastache Peach Margarita offers a delicate fragrance of mint and aniseed that’s heavenly muddled into iced tea and cold drinks.

How to use your edible flowers

Once you’ve got a basketful of blooms, the fun really begins. Here are some of our favourite ways to put them to work, whether you’re leaning sweet or savoury:

• Green salads and salad dressings: peppery nasturtium leaves and flowers, dahlia petals and marigold add colour and a flavour kick to leaves eaten raw.
• Sweet dishes and bakes: candied violets, whole pansies pressed into icing, and cornflower petals to decorate cakes, from a simple sponge to a showpiece chocolate cake.
• Ice cubes and cold drinks: freeze whole violas, blue cornflowers and calendula petals into an ice cube tray for the prettiest iced tea, cordials and cocktails you’ve ever served.
• Savoury dishes: golden calendula stirred through rice dishes, tomato dishes and soups; nasturtium flowers draped over fish dishes and open sandwiches.
• Fruit salads and puddings: sweet, fragrant agastache and delicate violas turn a bowl of summer fruit into something rather special.

A gentle word to the wise: introduce edible flowers to your diet in small amounts, use them as the joyful garnish they are, and always double-check that a variety is edible before it lands on the plate.

Grow your own edible flowers

The loveliest thing about eating flowers is that it costs so little to grow a whole summer’s worth. A single packet of seeds sown in spring will keep you in petals from June right through to the first frosts, and every bloom you don’t eat is doing sterling work feeding the bees and brightening your beds.

Ready to get sowing? Have a wander through our full range of edible flower seeds, or if you’d like to start with a ready-made collection, our Edible Flower Bundle gathers six heirloom favourites into one gorgeous gift bag: the perfect way to dip your toe (or fork) in.

Not sure when to sow what? Our sowing calendar will keep you right all season long.