No. It’s not Christmas! It’s Spring. Time to eat what is in your garden. Edible flowers and the most popular are pansys and nasturtium. Here are two photos that I took – one of a potato salad and the other of crab cakes. You eat with your eyes first, so make an impression. But remember – Never Serve Anything on a Plate That You Cannot Eat! If you don’t know if it is edible, Do Not Serve It!

Edible Pansy in a Potato Salad

CS Crab Cakes, Asian Salad with edible Pansy

Edible flowers are flowers that can be consumed safely. Flowers may be eaten as vegetables as a main part of a meal, or may be used as herbs. Flowers are part of many regional cuisines, including Asian, European, and Middle Eastern cuisines … With their powerful and unique flavors, textures and colors, edible flowers have gained popularity as a creative and innovative ingredient for the culinary world; they are added to foods to provide flavor, aroma, and decoration. They can be eaten as part of a main dish and can be incorporated into salads. Flowers can be added to beverages as flavorings, or be used to make beverages such as tisanes and wines. They are added to spreads such as butter or fruit preserves, and to vinegar, marinades, and dressings.

Flowers are also consumed for subsistence. Many flowers that are technically edible can be far from palatable.

For best flavor, flowers should be fresh and harvested early in the day. Wilted and faded flowers, and the unopened buds of most species, can be distasteful, often bitter. The taste and color of nectar widely varies between different species of flower; consequently, honey may vary in color and taste depending of the species of flower. Many flowers can be eaten whole, but some have bitter parts, such as the stamens and stems. [Wikipedia, et al]

You can find more information at Edible Flower or at What’s Cooking America – Edible Flowers. There is vast information on the web for edible flowers. Please check it out and be careful what you eat.