Edible Flowers: Growing and Using Them

Edible flowers turn your garden into a larder full of colour. Nasturtium petals add a peppery kick to a salad. Crystallised violas sit pretty on top of a birthday cake. Borage flowers frozen in ice cubes make any drink feel special. Calendula petals turn rice a lovely golden yellow.

Which flowers can you eat?

Not every garden flower is safe, and some taste of nothing at all. The twelve below are well worth growing for the plate as well as the border. They’re all easy to grow here and easy to find as seed.

The golden rule: never eat a flower unless you’re sure what it is. Never eat flowers from florists, garden centres or roadsides, as they’re often sprayed with things not meant for food. Grow your own, or buy from suppliers who sell flowers for eating. The RHS edible flowers guide has more safe choices.

If you already grow herbs, you might be eating flowers already. Chive flowers, basil flowers and coriander flowers are all edible and full of flavour.

Edible flower comparison table

How to grow the best edible flowers

Nasturtiums

The best edible flower for beginners. Sow straight where you want them from late April, pushing each seed about 2cm deep and 30cm apart. They’re quick to flower.

They love poor soil. Rich ground gives you lots of leaves but few flowers. A sunny spot at the edge of a veg patch or along a path is perfect, and they look lovely tumbling out of pots.

You can eat the lot. The flowers have a peppery bite, the round leaves taste like watercress, and the green seed pods can be pickled in spiced vinegar like capers.

You can eat the whole nasturtium plant: peppery flowers, watercress-like leaves and green seed pods that pickle like capers.

Violas and pansies

Violas give little jewel-like flowers from spring right through to the first hard frost. They cope with part shade and heavy clay. Sow indoors in February, prick out into modules, and plant out from April.

They taste mild and sweet, so they’re perfect for decorating. Freeze them in ice cubes, crystallise them for cakes, or press them gently onto soft cheese.

Snip off faded flowers to keep them coming. Cut back straggly plants in midsummer and they’ll flower again. They seed themselves around too.

Calendula (pot marigold)

Calendula has been used in British kitchens for centuries. The petals colour rice, soups and stews golden, which is why it was once called “poor man’s saffron”. The taste is tangy with a slight bitterness that suits savoury dishes.

Sow straight outside from March to May. It comes up fast, flowers quickly and seeds itself so freely you’ll have it for good. Deadhead and it flowers from June to the frosts. Pull the petals off the flower head to use them.

Hoverflies love it, and their larvae eat aphids, so it’s a handy friend in the veg patch. Our guide to organic pest control has more ideas like this.

Borage

Borage has starry blue flowers that taste of cool cucumber. It’s the classic garnish for a summer jug of Pimm’s. Freeze the flowers in ice cubes and they look gorgeous in any drink. Enjoy it in small amounts, as a garnish rather than a big bowlful.

Sow straight outside in April or May. It grows fast to 60-90cm and seeds itself, so one sowing gives you borage for years. It’s happy in most soils and copes with part shade, though it flowers best in sun.

Bees adore it. It’s a brilliant pollinator plant to grow near courgettes, beans and tomatoes.

Borage flowers taste of cool cucumber, and bees adore them. It seeds itself, so one sowing beside your courgettes and beans gives you borage for years.

Lavender

Lavender gives a floral, honeyed flavour to biscuits, sugar and shortbread. Go easy, as too much tastes soapy. Strip the little purple flowers from the stems and mix them into shortbread dough or scone mix.

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is the one for cooking. ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’ are popular choices. French lavender is more bitter, so keep it for the border.

Lavender needs full sun and soil that drains fast, and it hates wet winter feet. Plant it in a sunny cottage garden border or along a gravel path. Trim it after flowering to keep it bushy.

Roses

Old-fashioned, strongly scented roses taste best. Damask, gallica and rugosa roses are the traditional choices for rosewater and rose petal jam. Many modern roses smell lovely but taste of very little.

Pick petals in the morning when the scent is strongest. Snip off the pale base of each petal, which is bitter. Scatter fresh petals on salads or dry them for tea. Rose petal jam makes a lovely homemade present.

Courgette flowers

Grow courgettes? Then you’ve already got edible flowers. The male flowers sit on a long thin stalk with no baby courgette behind them, and you can pick them without losing any fruit.

Pick them in the morning when they’re fully open. Stuff them with ricotta and herbs, dip in light batter and fry until golden. It’s one of the nicest things you can eat from a garden.

Leave a couple of male flowers on each plant for pollination. Female flowers are edible too, but picking them means fewer courgettes.

Pick the male flowers, on long thin stalks with no baby courgette behind them, and you won’t lose any fruit. Leave a couple on each plant for pollination.

Chive flowers

The purple pompoms of chives taste of mild, sweet onion. Pull the little florets apart and scatter them over salads, jacket potatoes or cream cheese. Steep them in white wine vinegar for a couple of weeks for a pretty pink vinegar.

Chives flower from May to July. Let some flower for the kitchen and cut others back for fresh leaves. Bees love the flowers too.

Cornflowers

Cornflowers have bright blue petals with a faintly spicy taste. They dry well and keep their colour, so they’re popular in herbal tea blends. Scatter fresh petals over a green salad for a pop of blue.

Sow straight outside in autumn or early spring, in full sun. Deadhead often for flowers from June to September. ‘Blue Boy’ is the classic.

Elderflower

Elderflower cordial is a great British summer treat. Pick the flat, creamy flower heads in late May and June when they’re fully open and smell lovely. Skip any that are browning or smell musty.

A simple cordial uses about 20 flower heads, 1.5kg sugar, 1.5 litres of boiling water and the juice of 2 lemons. Steep for a day, strain and bottle. Keep it in the fridge and drink within a few weeks, or freeze it. Elderflower fritters, dipped in batter and fried, are another old favourite.

Elder grows wild in hedgerows all over the UK, and grows easily from cuttings. For more wild food closer to home, see our guide to edible plants in the garden.

Pick elderflower heads when they’re fully open and smell lovely. Skip any that are browning or smell musty, as they’ll spoil your cordial.

Sweet violets and primroses

These two spring flowers start the season before the summer flowers arrive. Sweet violets flower from February to April, and primroses from February into May. Both are native woodland plants that love dappled shade. Pick from your own garden rather than the wild.

Sweet violets taste sweet and perfumed. Crystallised violets are the classic cake decoration.

Primroses are mild and slightly sweet. Scatter them over spring salads or use them to decorate cakes. Both seed themselves happily under trees and shrubs.

Safety rules for eating flowers

A few simple rules keep you safe, as some garden flowers are poisonous.

Only eat flowers you’re sure of. Use a good plant guide or the RHS website. If in doubt, leave it out.

Never eat flowers that have been sprayed. That rules out florists, supermarkets and most garden centres. Grow your own from seed, or buy from edible flower suppliers.

Avoid flowers by busy roads. Traffic pollution settles on the petals.

Know the dangerous ones. Foxglove, monkshood, lily of the valley, daffodil, sweet pea, oleander and delphinium are all poisonous. Buttercups irritate the mouth. Azaleas and rhododendrons are poisonous too. Teach children not to eat flowers without asking.

Try a little first. Some people are allergic to the daisy family, which includes calendula, cornflowers and chamomile. Start with a small taste.

Recipes and uses for edible flowers

Flower salads

The easiest way to start. Scatter a handful of mixed petals over dressed green leaves just before serving. Nasturtiums, violas, calendula and borage look lovely together. Add the flowers after dressing, or they’ll go limp.

Keep the dressing light: olive oil, lemon juice, a touch of honey and a pinch of salt. Let the flowers shine.

Crystallised petals

Crystallised petals turn a simple cake into something special. Violas, rose petals, primroses and sweet violets work best.

How: whisk an egg white until slightly frothy. Paint both sides of each petal with a small brush. Sprinkle with caster sugar, shake off the extra and lay on baking parchment. Dry in an airing cupboard or a very low oven for a few hours until crisp. Store between layers of parchment in an airtight tin for a few weeks.

Flower ice cubes

Half-fill an ice cube tray with water and freeze. Lay a flower face down on each cube, top up with water and freeze again. Doing it in two goes keeps the flower in the middle instead of floating to the top.

Borage, violas and small rose petals work best. Pop them in lemonade, elderflower cordial or a G&T.

Freeze the cubes in two goes, half-filling the tray first, so each flower sits in the middle instead of floating to the top.

Infused flower vinegar

Chive flower vinegar is the most useful. Loosely fill a clean jar with chive flowers and cover completely with white wine vinegar. Seal and leave on a sunny windowsill for a couple of weeks, then strain into a clean bottle. It turns a pretty pale pink with a gentle onion flavour. Lovely in salad dressings.

Rose petal vinegar works the same way with strongly scented red or pink petals.

Lavender sugar and shortbread

Mix 2 tablespoons of lavender flowers into 200g of caster sugar in a jar. Seal it and give it a shake every day for a week. Sift out the flowers before using.

For lavender shortbread, use lavender sugar in your favourite shortbread recipe and fold in a tablespoon of fresh flowers. Shortbread, scones and sponges all get a lovely lift.

Growing edible flowers in containers

Every flower on this list grows happily in a pot, so a patio or balcony is plenty.

Use pots at least 30cm across with drainage holes. Fill with multipurpose compost with a handful of perlite mixed in. Water regularly in summer, and give a tomato feed every couple of weeks once flowering starts.

One big pot can hold a nasturtium trailing over the edge, a calendula in the middle and violas round the base. Pop it by the kitchen door and you’ve got an edible flower garden in one pot. Our flower planting calendar shows the best sowing times.

One big pot can hold a trailing nasturtium, a calendula and a ring of violas. Keep it by the kitchen door and pick as you cook.

How to harvest and store edible flowers

Pick in the morning after the dew has dried but before the midday sun, when they’re freshest.

Use them straight away if you can. If you need to keep them, lay them between damp kitchen paper in a sealed box in the fridge for a day or two.

Shake gently to dislodge any insects. Don’t wash them under the tap. Float them briefly in cold water if you need to.

Dry some to keep for longer. Calendula petals, lavender and cornflowers dry well. Spread them on a tray in a warm, dry room for a few days until crisp, then store in airtight jars out of the light.

Our guide to drying and storing herbs has more tips that work just as well for flowers.

Making the most of edible flowers in your garden

Edible flowers feed you, feed pollinators and look beautiful. Nasturtiums bring in hoverflies, and borage brings bees to your veg.

Plan for a long season. Sweet violets and primroses start in February. Violas follow from March. Nasturtiums, calendula, borage, cornflowers and lavender carry on from June to September. Late sowings of calendula and nasturtiums keep going into October.

Sow a few seeds every three weeks from March to June for flowers all summer. Let some plants seed themselves and your patch will get easier every year. A wildflower area, like the one in our wildflower lawn guide, makes a lovely neighbour for an edible flower bed.

Frequently asked questions

Which garden flowers are safe to eat in the UK?

Nasturtiums, violas, calendula, borage, lavender, roses, cornflowers and chive flowers. Always check you’ve got the right plant before eating. Never eat flowers from roadsides, florists or garden centres, as they’re often sprayed with chemicals not meant for food.

Can you eat flowers straight from the garden?

Yes, if they’re unsprayed and you know what they are. Pick them in the morning once the dew has dried. Give them a gentle shake to dislodge any insects, and use them the same day. Don’t wash them under the tap, as they bruise. Float them briefly in cold water and pat dry instead.

Are nasturtium leaves edible?

Yes, the whole plant is edible. The leaves taste peppery, a bit like watercress, and are great in salads and sandwiches. The flowers are milder and make a colourful garnish. Green seed pods can be pickled in vinegar like capers.

How do you crystallise flower petals?

Brush each petal with beaten egg white. A small paintbrush makes it easy. Sprinkle both sides with caster sugar and lay them on baking parchment. Dry in a warm spot or a very low oven for a few hours until crisp. Store between sheets of parchment in an airtight tin for a few weeks.

When should I sow edible flower seeds in the UK?

Sow most of them outside from late March to May. Nasturtiums, calendula and cornflowers come up well sown straight in the ground. Violas and pansies do better started indoors in February and planted out in April. Borage seeds itself so freely you’ll rarely need to sow it again.

Are edible flowers nutritious?

A little, but you eat so few that they’re mainly for fun. They add colour, flavour and a bit of wow to a plate. Think of them as a garnish rather than a replacement for your veg.

Which flowers should you never eat?

Foxglove, monkshood, lily of the valley, daffodil, sweet pea and delphinium. These are poisonous and can be very dangerous. Buttercups, azaleas and oleander are poisonous too. If you can’t be sure what a flower is, don’t eat it. The RHS website lists poisonous plants.