Hafferty’s Planting List Of Recommended Edible Flowers

In the recent issue of Permaculture Magazine, British permaculture gardening expert Stephanie Hafferty recommends planting the following edible flowers in your garden:

Annuals

• Nasturtium (Nasturtium)—peppery taste, like watercress
• Borage (Borage officinalis)—cucumber taste
• Viola/Heartsease (Viola/Viola tricolor)—lettuce taste
• Basil (Ocimum)—strong flavour, very much like the leaves
• Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)—slight apple taste
• Calendula (Calendula officinalis)—tangy, citrus taste
• Sunflower petals (Helianthus)—slightly nutty
• Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)—spicy and sweet, like cloves
• Courgette flowers (Cucurbita)—sweet, nutty taste
• Rocket (Eruca sativa)—spicy, like the leaves

Perennials

• Perennial Alliums, e.g. ‘society garlic’—tastes of garlic/onions
• Rose (Rosa)—sweet and fragrant, the more scented the rose, the better the flavour
• Daylily (Hemerocallis)—light, sweet taste
• Primrose (Primula)—light, delicate flavour
• Lavender (Lavendula)—strong, fragrant lavender taste
• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)—spicy and savoury
• Sage (Salvia officinalis)—strong and savoury
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)—light and spicy
• Mint (Mentha) strong minty taste