Flavorful Flowers

Wrapping The Flavors of the Season

by Jennifer Schamber

YOUR ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR MAY BLOOMS

GARDEN HEIGHTS NURSERY

1605 Big Bend Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63117 314-645-7333 www.gardenheights.com

Flowers can be celebrated not just for their beauty, but also for their flavors. Every season delights us with an array of options to be used in culinary creations as well as cocktail sensations. The months of May, June and July present us with the best opportunity to fuse together the worlds of gardening, cooking and art, while the colors of late spring and early summer reach their peak. Exploring the realm of edible flowers opens up a pathway that leads to a true appreciation for the goodness that our gardens bestow on us. Some of the best chefs in the world are admired for their creative methods of incorporating local and seasonal ingredients in their dishes, and many of their trade secrets can be grown, cultivated and prepared right in our own gardens and kitchens.

A vast range of edible flowers may already exist in your yard, from early blooming gems in the spring like pansies, redbud flowers, dandelions and chickweed, to summer season favorites, like marigolds, calendula, borage flowers, nasturtiums and zucchini blossoms. The simplest way to incorporate these unconventional edibles would be to add as tasty garnishes in a salad. Another easy trick is to use the flowers to decorate sweet treats like cupcakes. Perhaps you might want to take it up a notch? Why not try a chickweed chimichurri? Or maybe turn a simple focaccia recipe into a masterpiece by artfully arranging foraged flowers on top?

Another beautiful way to showcase the colors and flavors of the season is by featuring them in rice paper wraps. This gardeninfluenced delicacy is inspired by Vietnamese spring rolls and truly presents itself as a work of art. See notes for recipe ideas.

Remember when using foraged plants or plants from your garden, be sure they are properly identified before consumption. Also, steer clear of any plants that have been treated with pesticides, and be sure to thoroughly wash and properly store all edibles.

Check out Jan Phillip’s Wild Edibles of Missouri available on

Flower Rice Paper Wraps (pictured)

From the kitchen of Katie Adelia of Greenscape Gardens

Soak your rice paper wrap in warm water until it is pliable. Place on a plate for assembling. Arrange your flowers face down in the center of the wrap. Next put cooked rice noodles on top of the flowers, then layer your veggies- carrots, cucumbers, red cabbage and marinated mushrooms. Once all the ingredients are in, fold the sides to meet in the middle, then fold the side closest to you over the top and gently roll it forward.

Dipping Sauce (Can also be used for marinading mushrooms) From the kitchen of

Chef Gary of Greenscape Gardens

If feeding a group (say 12 people) and you’re planning to use this as a marinade for the mushrooms, prepare about cup’s worth of dipping sauce. Stir together: ½ cup Aji-mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine) or Honmirin (if you’re looking to really impress), ¼ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup Tamari brewed soy sauce, 2 cloves finely minced garlic, 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger and ½ teaspoon black garlic salt.

Jennifer Schamber is the General Manager of Greenscape Gardens, and plays leaderships roles in the Western Nursery & Landscape Association, GrowNative! and the Landscape & Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis. She has earned Green Profit Magazine’s Young Retailer Award, and Greenscape Gardens was named the National Winner of the 2015 “Revolutionary 100” Garden Centers by Today’s Garden Center Magazine.