April Showers Bring May Flowers, So Let’s Get Floral!

Yes, you’ve read this correctly, I am telling you to eat flowers.  

Not just any flowers, of course, as some are obviously poison.  Stick with what you find at the farmer’s market or at your grocery shop if you, like me, are not well versed in the art of foraging for edible flowers.  I would certainly not be comfortable choosing my own mushrooms off the forest floor, either, so this is one instance in which you may be best leaving the gathering to the experts!

Not only lovely to look at, eating flowers also offers some health benefits including being good sources of vitamin C or A, and trace elements such as calcium, zinc and magnesium. 

Some of the more commonly eaten varities, along with their properties, include 

• Violets (good source of rutin)
• Squash blossoms (Vitamin A)
• Borage  (helpful in fighting a cold)
• Lavender petals  (thought to benefit the central nervous system)
• Roses have a sweet, astringent flavor. Rose petals are rich in antioxidant
• Nasturtiums, lemon gem marigold and calendula (lycopene and lutein)
• Day lilies (Vitamin B)

Make sure to buy flowers that are sold as being edible.  Do NOT take a bite out of the roses your husband brought you for your anniversary.  Bad joke, OK, but flowers sold ornamentally could quite possibly have been treated with inedible substances, to say the least.

My favorite are marigolds in a salad.  Click here for a beautiful to look at and delish to eat recipe!