Edible flower favourites - A Handy Guide

· Violas and Pansies come in a huge variety of colours and have a sweet floral taste, but pansies are slightly more mint like. They work well with salads, puddings and pressed for cakes and biscuits.

· Roses they have a sweet and almost fruit like taste, they really work well with puddings but can also be added to salads. They are also good for the skin too, if you have any leftover, you can mash them up with some aloe vera gel for a speedy face mask.

· Lavender is a strong flavour and very perfume like, best used in small quantities as it packs a punch.

· Hibiscus flowers are fruity and look beautiful on drinks. They also have health benefits so a great addition to up the nutrients in your meals.

· Courgette flowers have a mild, sweet flavour and are delicious when blended with cheese and sauce.

· Calendula or poor mans saffron. Its amazing dried and sprinkled on curries or added to any salad, it has saffron like qualities but it unique.

· Borage flowers are delicate little stars and add the cucumber hint that goes well with gin cocktails, delicious.

· Carnation petals are very sweet but only use the floral tip as they can be slightly bitter at the end. They are delicious like violets when crystalised.

· Nasturtiums are similar to rocket in flavour and pack a peppery punch.

· Cornflowers are slightly sweet and spicey and are more herb tasting.

· Daylilies are similar to courgette flowers and have a more vegetable like taste. These are delicious lightly 

fried and added to main meals.

· Daisies look beautiful but aren’t the best in terms of flavour as they can be bitter.

· Hollyhocks are very mild and work with anything due to the delicate flavour.

· Tagettes or French marigolds are slightly citrus like and make a fantastic sprinkle for a salad to enhance the flavours. They also work well with fish , just a few petals are needed.

· Dahlias slightly fragrant but very refreshing, you can eat the tuber too but then the flowers would be gone!