Edible flowers in October
Dear northern hemisphere gardeners: Who is still collecting and using edible flowers now in October? There are still so many beautiful flowers in most areas, yet after May/June it seems the interest in edible flowers disappears.
Comments
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Borage and nasturtiums (this kind is in a protected area from the frost on my property so they last a few months longer) are still going very strong.
Actually my borage looked kind of sickly much of the summer since it was so hot and humid so I cut most of them back or pulled them but now they have come back and are absolutely gorgeous.
It's funny but many people who see my garden now always remark what are all those beautiful flowers you have growing in your garden? They think I'm some kind of magician I guess to get such pretty flowers. Needless to say, if you are familiar with borage, plant it once and it takes care of itself every year thereafter. Most of us which have it actually start complaining it is invasive.
The truth... it can be. But the compost pile absolutely loves it so I just pull the excess all summer and feed my pile. It breaks down and decomposes fast and easy.
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I’m in zone 8a and have verbena, Daylily and squash and honeysuckle flowers going. My fall petunias are starting to become fuller and I still have calendula and nasturtium in the veggie beds. Of course all the basil and sages are flowering to the point of not being able to keep up with pinching to signal they are finally done. Oh and my roses are still blooming too and the shrub roses are finally starting to show big beautiful hips.
Of course many more flowers but not edible ones I don’t think.Dahlias and Gladiolas and Cyclamen as well as escollonia are abundant this time of year.
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Most of my flowers are still going strong. I'll harvest the lavendar that has come back stronger than ever this past month. I also have all the mints and basils that are still going strong and trying to flower as well. One planter of basil I let go to flower back in June and it's still blooming. The bees have been frequenting them all summer and even the humming birds visited them. The roses all have buds that will open any day. Echinacea is getting it's second wind and blooming beautifully again. My squash are flowering again as well. We try to keep the beauty going as long as possible. It's been getting in the mid to high 30's at night, so when it freezes they are done.
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I am in zone 3b/4 and still have nasturtiums and borage flowering. My strawberry mint is covered with flowers. The Himalayan Balsam has been shooting out seeds but is still producing more flowers. My zucchini is also still producing flowers so I think I may pick them and make stuffed squash blossoms as they won't have time to develop new zucchini at this point. We are supposed to get a frost this weekend. I was out getting firewood the other day and found chamomile, yarrow and arnica all doing a second bloom. We've had some very warm weather in September and no frost yet but still, I was amazed to find them flowering in October.
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My borage is done. After our frosts (we've had a few in my area already), pretty much all the flowers are done. I see a dandelion here or there & tiny white flowers on a particular weed (I didn't ID it).
I have noticed that some of the beekeepers are starting to supplement their bees, so that confirms that flowers are pretty much done for now & everything is headed firmly into the winter mode.
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I'm in 5b and I haven't spotted much lately. I also am in the suburbs so that complicates things. It seems like we went from summer to fall overnight. It was warm and sunny and the leaves were beginning to turn then I come out a few days later and it's cool and there are leaves all over our yard. We tend to get very long winters here and sometimes they can be very hard.
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Seems borage is still strong in many places. What is your favourite way to use these flowers?
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You can eat gladioli, dahlia and cyclamen @herbantherapy I like all of them.
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Who is still harvesting calendula petals for food or medicine?
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I am still eating the ones above like the dahlia, nasturtium, etc, but my eye always goes to the bright red pineapple sage flowers. Our cannas are doing great with the prettiest flowers of yellow, pink and red - they are edible too.
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@Brueck.iris how fun! I will have to learn how to eat/use more flowers!! I’m also still harvesting calendula mostly to dry for tea/tea blends at this point.
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Hibiscus, nasturtiums, mums (not real tasty), sorrell, okra flowers (more hibiscus)
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I still have calendula going strong. I also brought a couple of the calendula plants inside to enjoy during our 5 months of snow. :)
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You are eating "mums"?!? I admit, I didn't dare to ask the question when it went through my head. so I googled it. Cool! Learned something new.
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I have calendula and nasturtium still in bloom, but the weather is changing fast so really just a few days left.
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I was drying a lot of calendula and some rose hips. Then figured out the greenhouse I was drying them in the contractors plastic it was covered with leaks like crazy. Everything had looked like it was drying well, until you really picked them up and looked closely. They all had mold on them where the petals joined the base. Even the rose hips were molding. Hated to lose my whole stash after working so hard on them. First time trying to dry them. Will know better next year and build a dryer I can use this time of year hanging close to my wood stove and hopefully will get my solar dehydrator built this year too.
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I'm in 9b so most of my edible flowers do better in the winter months but I have roses now
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Wow, roses now? Where exactly is that?
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@vickeym it is very labor intensive drying rose petals. I now tincture almost all my red rose petals. It's just a fantastic way to consume rose petals!!! Also, you can pull out a drink of flower all the year long. There is one HUGE problem with red rose petal tincture though. It is just awful. Know what it is? Well, when all of the rose petal tincture is gone of course!!! 😌
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Here in zone 8 during September and often such as this year into October--we are busy harvesting our cannabis flower bud.
Each day I separate cannabis leaves from the bud. I use the leaves closest to the bud and that are in excellent condition to make CBD oil. I use the other leaves on the cannabis plant for the highest-quality plant compost ever. Finally, I gather the cannabis flower bud and place it on a glass sheet where I decarboxylate it in the oven and then store it in this heavenly form in glass jars for use in edibles. My special favorite is a protein smoothie with cannabis flower in the mix...mmmhmmm good!
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When eating or preserving calendula, is there a specific variety or can you use any marigold?? If it is a specific type, could someone please post a picture of it??
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@aprilbbrinkman Have never tried drying rose petals. Would love to figure out drying the flowers better for use in teas and other herbals.
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Weather changed quickly (snow flurries), but I was able to get items harvested and they are currently being dried around the wood stove. Also made a map of areas on my property for foraging (for next year) that I didn't know I had!
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Is anyone still picking edible flowers now in December? Apart from us here in the Southern hemisphere of course. For us it's peak season.
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I still have a few roses, some yarrow, Mexican mint marigold although all but the roses will be completely gone soon. Oh...do pea blossoms count? But I don't eat them because I love the peas and the pods (Little Marvel - got on clearance for 25 cents a pack at Dollar General some months back (I know it was pre-Covid) . I pick them just before the pods start thinning out and the peas mature. The pods are as tasty as the peas.
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@Brueck.iris I'm in the Southern hemisphere, and nasturtiums are spicing up my salads. However, being a brassica, it does like the cold, too.
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@naomi.kohlmeier In the first picture posted in the opening comment, there is a Calendula flower in the top left hand corner. They come in other shades of orange and yellow. I like the deepest orange ones for medicine.
If you are buying seed you want Calendula officinalis. There are varietals available but the package should say Calendula somewhere on the label. Richters has one called 'Erfurter Orangefarbige' which has a double flowering head and another called 'Oopsy Daisy'. This is a link to their main page and then click on the individual varieties to see the info and pics. https://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?show=list&prodclass=Herb_and_Vegetable_Seeds&cart_id=5433849.26498
Not all marigolds are the same. Make sure it is a Calendula species you are purchasing and not one of the Tagetes species (French, Mexican or African Marigolds). These species are great for planting in your garden to keep pests away from your veggies.
@vickeym I have found that when drying flowers of any kind, they need to be well separated. None of the petals can be touching each other. Or whole heads in the case of clovers. I use a piece of paper towel on my screens to lay the petals on for the first couple of days to help absorb any excess moisture. That seems to help keep mold away. Bummer about your hips, though. I had hawthorns go moldy this year. I thought they were dry when I jarred them up, but I guess not quite.
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thank you @torey . That was very helpful. I love marigolds and usually have a variety. I'm going to have to pay closer attention to the varietal to make sure I get the calendula officinalis.
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