OK, so I'm breaking the lower leaves off my itoh peonies now, even though I ought to leave all the leaves on until they turn brown. But they're starting to look raggedy and they snap so satisfyingly and also it lets some sun in for the squash and bean vines that are growing under them and furthermore I'm impatient and I want to take a look at next year's buds.
So, to justify this theft of next year's vigor, I'm wondering if they're edible. Toothsome. Nourishing. Variety is the spice of life and the source of micronutrients and all that.
I look at the snake eating its tail of the internet and it's all "Every part of the peony plant is toxic." Well, maybe.
I know the flowers are used for tea, which I don't much care for, so I use the dropped petals in my stir fry. Pretty small dose, admittedly, but most foods are.
I use the
roots medicinally. Also pretty small dose, but doubtless more than the flowers, and for a longer duration.
But of
course many plants have different qualities in different parts, so I'd feel much better trying more than a nibble if I knew others had eaten the leaves.
Yes, they're tough, but I could throw them in the pressure cooker with my rice if only my husband didn't worry about their toxicity.
Any
experience? Stories? Rumours of other cultures?
Thanks!
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