posted 5 years ago
I was on a kick of planting only edible species in the yard and not planting 'frivolous' things like flowers (yeah, I know, lots of reasons other than edibility to plant them) when I discovered that a farmer on my island was retiring and selling off a lot of dahlia tubers for 25 cents each. I justified my purchase on the grounds that dahlia tubers are edible. Since then I've decided, to heck with it, I will plant what I like whether it's edible or not.
But, I am still interested in edibles and thought it would be fun to start a list of 'flowers' that are typically grown for their visual appeal (and for attracting pollinators) but that have an additional permaculture function of being edible - not just starvation-edible but tasty and perhaps also good for you - and what parts are edible. Here are a few, just off the top of my head. I'm sure you-all can add more!
Dahlia - tuber
Sunchoke - tuber
Sunflower - seed
Rose - petals
Lavender - petals
Violets - petals, leaves
Nasturtiums - leaves
Amaranth (e.g., love-lies-bleeding) - leaves, seeds
California poppy - leaves
Hosta - leaves
Chives - leaves, flowers
Daylily - flowers
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson