Edible flowers to grow at home

Beautiful and delicious, edible flowers are a must-grow this year

Edible flowers tick many boxes in the garden – as well as looking gorgeous on the plot, they are stunning and crowd-pleasing additions to the plate, too. Not only that, many of them also have pest-repelling properties and similar, making them an essential addition to your growing repertoire. Here are some of our favourites to try this year…

Nasturtiums
Available in a variety of colours, the peppery leaves and the bright flowers of nasturtiums are edible. You can also use the seed pods (sometimes known as ‘poor man’s capers’), so they are a truly versatile and generous addition to the plot. They are great for using as companion plants, too. Extremely easy to grow (and spreading, given the chance!) they really are the perfect plant for the edible gardener, as they really tick so many boxes.

Pineapple Guava
This is one of those handy plants which does double duty as an edible that’s equally at home in an ornamental garden. It’s an evergreen shrub, with spectacular, exotic-looking flowers. If you live in one of the warmer parts of the UK, you may find that these flowers turn into guava-like fruit, about the size of a small hen’s egg. More often, the flowers are the main crop; the fleshy, pink-flushed petals taste of pineapple laced with cinnamon.

Dahlias
This may be a slight cheat entry, as it isn’t the flower you eat, but dahlias make a fantastic addition to the edible flower patch because of their edible tubers. These can be used in a similar way to potatoes. Not only are they one of the most cheering sights to see in the garden, but their gorgeous blooms make wonderful cut flowers, too, so you can please many of your senses! A really popular plant, and it isn’t hard to see why!

Lavender
This flavour may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it is undeniable that lavender is a useful addition to the garden. Not only is lavender a beautiful, fragrant bloom, it’s also a functional companion plant, which has plenty of uses, from making your home smell lovely, attracting pollinators, and adding its distinctive taste to bakes.

Borage
A proper workhorse on the plot, borage is fantastic for pollinators, can be used as a green manure, and on top of this, the delicate blue flowers are a wonderful addition to salads, or are perfect for freezing in ice cubes and adding some pizzazz to a summer jug of Pimms.

Chives
Probably already a feature in your herb garden, chive flowers deserve their place on the plot. The pretty and aromatic blooms don’t take up much space, and can even be grown in containers. If you pick regularly, you will keep the plants productive, and this is another crop which is a favourite of the bees.