A feast of flowers

Edible flowers will brighten up your mealtimes – and you may have been eating them without noticing, says Bob

- Bob Flowerdew

FASHIONS in gardening wax and wane. Edible flowers were popular for a brief moment, then they were almost forgotten again. As usual, not much actually changed, apart from expensive restaurants adding petals to their impressionist salads.

You’re not going to get a huge number of calories from munching petals, so including these has to be more for their colour than for nutrition. Many edible flowers are perfumed, so this can also add flavour.

Conversely, petals may also be quite tough and bitter, though this is often reduced by removing the base of the petal. Then there are the possible health benefits from increasing the range of plants and the parts that we eat. These plants may be beneficial, but I doubt they amount to an awful lot in practice.