Come along as I gather flowers for art, medicine, and edible decoration from our springtime garden.
Now, I want to state right away that not all of the flowers that I harvest are edible. Some of these little flowers are meant for cake decoration (the edible ones of course) while others are simply for enchanting life and making crafts only.
These sweet peas are growing abundantly the walkway behind my mom's home. Often visited by bees of all kinds these flowers are just as pretty as they are helpful in this local ecosystem. The bees depend on them but, according to my research sweet pea flowers are not edible. Like, not at all.
So, why collect sweet pea flowers?
For their beauty mainly. In the Victorian language of flowers the sweet pea stands for "a token of thanks" or a "bittersweet farewell" depending on which guide to the language of flowers you refer to. I never know when I will need to express one of these two sentiments so I am saving & drying these sweet pea flowers along with nasturtium and rose buds for future use.
Nasturtiums, the orange and pink flowers on the left, are edible. These flowers are a bit spicy, sort of like a leaf of arugula. This time I simply saved the flowers by drying them but I very often add them to salads where they look and taste great.
Around this suburban garden we grow these nasturtiums from seed all spring and summer. They are beautiful plants that don't mind the filtered sun of this woodland spot but they also enjoy climbing up a sunny trellis elsewhere.
And then there are the roses which are medicinal, edible, and decorative. They have been used in so many ways throughout their long history on Earth. I love them for their beauty and delicate aroma. Very often I include the fresh petals in salads as we grow our roses organically.
Today, however, these roses like the sweat pea flowers and nasturtiums will be dried. I may use the dried rose buds in skin healing oils, or just as decoration. A few dried roses added to a little gift bag adds not only a fine scent but also, I dare say, a bit of mystery and magic too.