It's not easy - at first - to eat flowers. You have to overcome some deeply-ingrained, early conditioning to let yourself enjoy the act of consuming blossoms. After all, when you were a child and wanted to put everything in your mouth, including flowers, you were not allowed. If the thought of chewing blooms is still repugnant, consider this: you have probably been eating them without even thinking about it - in the form of artichokes, and pickled capers, the unopened flower buds of the Mediterranean shrub, Capparis spinosa.
It is a simple step, then, to start adding selected petals to salads and other dishes. The flavours are usually delicate and the colours are unexpectedly appetising. Nasturtium petals enliven a salad with their piquant, peppery taste and gaudy hues. Calendulas - which are known as pot marigolds, because of their edible properties - can be used in salads as well.
However, African and French marigolds (Tagetes species), those staples of summer bedding, should not be eaten. They are supposed to taste revolting - although my own investigative nibblings on single French marigolds (grown in the greenhouse to repel whitefly) have not proved this conclusively. Calendula petals (which can be dried for a constant supply) may also be used to colour rice, pasta and potatoes, as a cheap alternative to saffron. Real saffron, of course, comes from the stigmas of another flower, the autumn flowering Crocus sativus; its use was first recorded in Crete in 1500 BC.
But before you embark on a flower-eating binge, be absolutely sure that what you're about to ingest is safe. Many garden plants have poisonous flowers. And don't think that because some parts are edible, the whole thing can be eaten: the potato, for instance, has delicious tubers, but its blooms (and fruits) are noxious. Other familiar flowers that are toxic include clematis, aconite, delphinium, foxglove, daffodil, autumn crocus (Colchicum), iris, hydrangea, wisteria, periwinkle, lobelia, morning glory (Ipomoea), rhododendron and buttercup. Unless you know from a reputable source that you can eat a flower, don't! And if possible, take out the stamens and stigmas, as the pollen may cause allergic reactions in some people.
Many flowers, including roses and carnations, are bitter at the base of the petal, so be sure to remove the part where the colour begins to fade into white, to avoid mouth-puckering surprises. Some of the more tasty roses are the old-fashioned kinds such as Rosa gallica and R. rugosa, and although I have not tried it, apparently the scentless "Flower Carpet" has a surprisingly good flavour. Use rose petals to make syrup or jelly, or crystallise them (along with violet and scented pelargonium flowers) with egg white and caster sugar to make decorations for desserts and cakes.
Florists' roses - or indeed any shop-bought flowers - should not be served for dinner, as they may have been sprayed with pesticides. And, it should go without saying that if you use pesticidal or fungicidal chemicals in your own garden, then don't feed on the flowers. Blooms for consumption should be organically-grown, free from blemishes and picked while they are young and healthy. They won't keep long, so don't leave them hanging about the kitchen. If you have to harvest them in advance, put them in a plastic bag in the fridge and use them within a day.
Most herbs have edible flowers, and judging from my recent bout of methodical tastings, they have the same flavour as the plant, although usually slightly milder, and often with a sweet or aromatic edge. Scattering them into a green salad adds a gentle zing and welcome flecks of colour. Chive flowers are pretty and give a complementary, fragrant boost to grilled lamb (break the flower-heads up into individual flowerets). Garlic chives, coming into flower around now, have lovely white star-shaped flowers, also edible. And let's not forget the humble onion: its big drumstick head supplies hundreds of tiny, stellar flowers - a pleasing garnish for a plate of sliced tomatoes. Yellow tomatoes, by the way, look festive sprinkled with sky-blue borage flowers or chicory petals.
Little flowers, like those I've just mentioned, slip down easily. If you're any way doubtful about munching a mouthful of petals, you'd hardly notice these ones passing your lips. However, it may require an act of willpower to eat a fulsome and flagrant day lily (and we won't dwell here on flowers being the sexual parts of plants). I've heard that different day lily cultivars have different flavours, but I have only one at present, "Garnet Rose", with flowers the colour of old velvet curtains. Its petals are crunchy and refreshing. All parts of day lilies are edible, including the tubers. I didn't know this when we dug out a huge patch of the common, rusty-orange one, Hemerocallis fulva, recently - which is probably a good thing: day lily tuber stew may have proved too much for this dinner table's guinea pigs.
And the prince of big blossoms is the courgette or zucchini flower (eat the males and let the females form fruits). Darina Allen in her book, A Year at Ballymaloe Cookery School, has a fine recipe for deepfried zucchini blossoms stuffed with goat's cheese. I've not tried it yet, as we had no room to grow them this year, but I will as soon as I can beg a few flowers from a friend.
Diary dates
Today, 2.30 p.m. Howth and Sutton Horticultural Society autumn show. St Nessan's Community School, Baldoyle Road, Sutton.