A Handbook of Edible Flowers: Their Cultivation and Use

by Florence G. Dale

A traditional element in table design and a garnishing staple of nouvelle cuisine, flowers today are being used as ingredients in a variety of exotic and everyday dishes. Although modern city-dwellers rely less on home-grown plants for survival than in years past, the combined trends of organic gardening and creative cookery have sparked a renewed interest in edible flowers. From yarrow to sweet violets, dandelions to nasturtiums, and roses to geraniums, flowering garden plants put new zest into recipes for butters and syrups, jams and jellies, oils and vinegars, salads and sauces. Exquisitely photographed in full color, this book opens the door to a whole new gastronomical experience. Each profile includes information on growth and cultivation, plus essential precautions on the safe use of edible flowers.

Genres: Gardening

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lot quicker read than I expected. Most of the book has a full-page photo of the flowers, and talks about the flower on the facing page, with a very few entries having more than one page.

The book gives an overview of each flower: What nonfood things it is used for, ideas of culinary uses (like salad, flavoring, wine, etc.). It also gives the zone it grows in (with a colored zone map in the back), what soil it likes, full sun or not, etc. Also, if it is a good companion plant or deters pests. A lot of information on one page, really.

After that part, it lists each flower, with pertinent information (it looked to me like it was pretty much the same info).

This is more of an overview, in my opinion. If I wanted to grow any of these plants, I would want to get a book (or find a knowledgeable person) so I could learn all I wanted to know. All in all, I loved the book.