Edible Flowers

Several years ago, I was chatting with a friend of mine, who is also the owner of a local nursery, and she suggested that I sample one of the petals from a daylily we were standing nearby.  She said they were edible, and tasted like sweet lettuce.  I trust her, so I took a bite.  She was right; the petal was crunchy, and reminiscent of iceberg lettuce.  I share this fun tidbit with friends and family that visit in the summer, and let them sample whatever blooms are available that day.

As I meandered through my garden tonight, I was reminded of the edible daylilies while admiring the foliage of the many daylily plants I own.  I was also daydreaming of how great they're going to look in just less than a couple of months.

This got me to thinking about other flowers that are edible, and how I could extend my garden to another useful dimension.  I know herb flowers are in the safe zone, as well as pansies, roses, and lavender, but wasn't sure about too many others.

I did some research online, and it's amazing what you can find on edible flowers.  Here's a pretty comprehensive list -- http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

Last year, I went on a garden tour, and one of the ladies had made Lavender cookies to welcome us into her garden.  They were excellent!  This year, Better Homes & Gardens featured an article on baking with lavender.  I have had lavender growing in my yard for years, and added five new plants this year, but never thought to bake with it.  Important note: you bake with the dried petals; not the foliage.  BHG.com has some interesting recipes that I'm going to add to my list of summer to do's.  In a follow up post, I'll have to report back on the results.  http://www.bhg.com/recipes/searchResults.jsp?searchTerm=lavender&page=1&sortBy=rating

Why You Should Grow a Columbine

Columbines don't get a lot of press.  I've never seen them featured in an article and I never hear people talking about them.  You'll never hear folks say -- I've got to get to MOBOT this weekend to check out the columbines.  They are the unsung hero of Spring, providing some unique attributes to the garden.

Here's three reasons you should add a columbine to your garden:

1. It's the earliest source of food for hummingbirds.  It's true.  They bloom right as the hummers arrive in our area.  What a great welcome mat for our migrating friends.  And who doesn't love those little guys buzzing around the yard?  They add another dimension to fluttering things in the garden.
   
2. You can join the "grow native" movement.  At least one variety is native to Missouri. They are already adept to our weather conditions, which means they're easy to grow.  The native variety is very pretty.  It's a reddish-pink with a yellow center.  They reseed themselves, so that's a low maintenance way to increase your supply!
   
3. They have a unique flower.  There really isn't any other flower like them.  They have delicate blooms that hang downwards.  In a light wind, they sway back and forth like small bells attached to wire.  They come in lots of colors, so there's sure to be one that you would find suitable for your garden.

This was a pass along plant from my mother in law.

I found two of these plants underneath the one above.  I think they're seedlings from the parent that didn't stay true to the parent.  Perhaps this is one of the varieties that was used to create the hybrid pale pink.

This is the native variety.

This is a stow away that came in a boxwood I purchased at Lowe's a few years ago.  I didn't know it was there.  The Spring after I planted the boxwood, I noticed some extra foliage growing out of the back of it.  It was a delicate operation to separate the two.

April Showers

The rains yesterday and today have definitely brought more blooms into the garden. I'm impatiently waiting for the bearded iris to begin blooming.  I've already had the "Easter Bonnet" iris going (white with blue center), which is a dwarf variety and a prolific early bloomer.  It's been blooming for a week and a half.  I also have a dwarf variety blooming called "Angel Heart" that is white with orange beards.

Last year, the iris crop was a bust.  I got about two blooms out of the whole yard.  In years past, I've had so many blooms that I've been able to cut and bring them inside and place them in large vases.  They actually make great cut flowers.  You have to snap off the faded flowers each morning, but they will continue to bloom in the vase.  This is especially a good option for iris that have fallen victim to April storms and would otherwise be eating mud.

This is a new plant I've discovered and added three of to my garden this year.  It's called Lithodora "Heavenly Blue" and the photo shows true color.  It's almost an electric cobalt blue and I can see the halo of color from my kitchen.  I picked it up from The Home Depot.  I've never seen heard of it before or seen anything like it.  Fantastic flowers that have been blooming for three weeks and it has foliage very similar to lavender or rosemary.

In the fall, I picked up three named varieties of Coral Bells.  The foliage was great; it had thick veining in two shades of green.  I didn't know the flowers would also be so showy.  They're so hard to capture on film because they're wispy, but from a distance it looks like a floating cloud of hot pink.  Each plant has 5+ stems.

This is a variegated Jacob's Ladder.  I bought 3 of them in the fall.  1.5 of them lived.  It has wonderful delicate foliage and pale blue flowers.  A nice treat to see it blooming now, considering the one I have that is native to Missouri (solid green foliage, same blue flowers) has already finished blooming.

Dr. Ruppel clematis is blooming like crazy.  This is only 1/2 the plant on one side of the trellis.

Ajuga paired with variegated hosta and hosta "Guacamole".  The ajuga has a wonderful purple color this year, and the patch has spread so much that it's a real jolt of color for my shady dry creek garden.

The pansies on the front porch.  Planted in October, $5 for two pots, still blooming... you do the math.

Tyler couldn't resist the mud.  He's proudly showing off dirty fingers.

By the time he was done playing, he was pretty well covered.

This is a side shot of the garden by the street that I created last year in the middle of the worst heat.  I've almost filled this garden with mail order plants and great sale finds from Lowe's and Home Depot.  It's home to fruit, veggies, herbs, and flowers.