Annual Edible Flowers

• Sweet-flavored pansies are a charming edible accent to dessert.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  An organic annual bed devoted to edible flowers may include pansies, nasturtiums and marigolds. These may be grown from seed. Pansies have a sweet flavor similar to violets, and are at their peak bloom in spring and again in fall. They can be grown in full sun to partial shade. Summer-blooming nasturtiums and marigolds have a peppery flavor. Use raw in salads, or dry and crumble over cooked dishes. Grow these in full sun. From the vegetable garden, squash blossoms, with a raw squash flavor, may be served with or without the tiny squash. Buttery sautéed baby squash with the blossoms attached are pretty and delicious.
  
  

Perennial Edible Flowers

• Squash blossoms may be prepared along with the squash.Tom Brakefield/Stockbyte/Getty Images
  
  Lavender flowers taste like lavender perfume. Violets have a sweet flavor and are beautiful candied. Spicy clove-scented dianthus (pinks) flowers have a flavor like their scent. Daylily is to be cooked, and tastes like asparagus-flavored zucchini. Garden chrysanthemum blossoms have a mild flavor and are used in soups. Hollyhocks have a slightly bitter flavor. Try using the beautiful opened blossoms as a container for condiments or dips. Rose petals have a highly perfumed flavor that may be sweet to bitter. Thicker rose petals are easily candied.
  
  

Edible Herb Flowers

• Herb flowers like onion-flavored chives are edible.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The flowers of most culinary herbs may be eaten. These usually have a flavor similar to but milder than their leaves, though dill flowers taste stronger. Try fluffy purple, onion-flavored chive flowers, or delicate blue, white or pink sage blossoms as edible garnish with soups and cooked chicken dishes. Pineapple sage flowers have a hint of pineapple flavor. Fennel flowers taste mildly like licorice. Mustard flowers have a hot mustard flavor. English chamomile flowers have a sweet, apple-y flavor.
  
  

Edible Tree Flowers

• Edible crabapple blossoms may enhance the presentation of a meal.Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
  
  Apple and crabapple flowers have a light floral to sour taste. Redbud (Cercis canadensis) blossoms come in early spring and have a tart apple flavor. Orange flowers have a strong, sweet citrus taste, while lemon flowers are citrus-y and somewhat bitter. Mildly flavored plum flowers taste like flower nectar.
  
  

Candying Flowers

• To candy any sweet blossom, brush with a wash of dried, pasteurized egg white and water, and then dip in super-fine sugar. Dry and store in an airtight container or use immediately as edible garnish with desserts.