While you probably have never given it much thought, there are many common landscape plants that are edible, and some of them may already be in your garden!  So, why would you want to know that?  Because edible landscape plants can add a creative garnish to an ordinary meal, a tasty flavor to any dish, a zing when added to beverages, and a culinary fragrance to marinades.....the list is endless!  As a bonus, they make your landscape more unique, as well as beautiful!

Before you dive in to cooking with edible flowers and landscape plants, be certain that you know which ones are edible and which ones are not, and which plant parts to use.  With most flowers, it is the petal only, and not the leaves and stems.  With other plants, it is the seed or fruit, and with still others, it is the roots.

Here is a short list of some common landscape plants that are edible:

• Roses (petals)
• Society Garlic (petals and leaves)
• Lemon Grass (leaves)
• Rosemary (leaves and petal)
• Pansies (petals)
• Hibiscus (petals)
• Pindo Palm (seeds/fruit)
• Podocarpus (seeds/fruit/female plant)
• Coco Plum (seeds/fruit)
• Seagrape (seeds/fruit)
• Marigold (petals)
• Daylily (petal)
• Honeysuckle (petal)
• Pineapple Guava Feijoa (fruit)
• Surinam Cherry (fruit)

So, be bold, and give some of these edible landscape plants a try in your next recipe!  And, if you find that using these edible landscape plants in the kitchen is not to your liking, you will still have a beautiful landscape garden!