Can you eat flowers? You’ve been somewhere recently, either a party or an event where there were drinks and maybe canopies, you’ve seen flowers displayed on the food and maybe in the cocktails and you are just curious – Are they just for décor or can I eat them?
Well the good news is yes, you can eat certain flowers and most times, though do confirm with the server, when you see flowers presented with foods and drinks then you can be confident they are to be consumed also. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to grab a handful to consume, but if you wish to leave them on your canopies or not pick them out from your salad or that cocktail you’ve just been served is that fabulous that you want to munch on the fruits / flowers it may contain, then you can do so safely!
What flowers can I eat?
There are many flowers that are safe to decorate food / drinks with and that are safe to eat such as:
Arugula
Borage
Calendula
Clover
Dianthus
Dandelion
Dill
Fuchsia
and the list goes on!
Are any flowers poisonous? There are some flowers which are certainly not to be eaten including:
Lily of the valley
Foxgloves
Monkshood
and once again the list goes on! Also note, if you have pets, you need to research independently what they should or should not be eating!
Where to buy edible flowers? There are plenty of places to purchase flowers that can be consumed safely from some supermarkets or specialist high street shops to online options that send out orders fresh and within temperature-control packaging.
Edible flowers are great to decorate foods from salads to cub sandwiches, usually positioned on top of or to the side of the dish to be eaten – Flowers are a great addition when you wish to do photo shoots adding colour to your shots. There are also many cocktails that are decorated with flowers.