Borage (Borago officinalis)
Use fresh in salad, with meat and fish dishes or in drinks
Pansies (Viola tricolor and hybrids)
As well as fresh in salad, use to decorate puddings and cakes
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Either fresh in salad or to garnish pasta
Roses (Rosa species, hybrids and cultivars, especially those sweetly scented)
Use fresh in salad and to decorate cakes, also for jam and crystallising or to flavour syrups and drinks
Common marigolds (Calendula officinalis)
Use fresh, dried or preserved in oil or vinegar, in salads, soups, sautées, stews, puddings and cakes
Primroses and cowslips (Primula vulgarise, P. veris and cultivars)
Use fresh or crystallised
Lady’s smock or cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis)
Excellent in salads and as a garnish for delicately flavoured white dish doe an intense hit of watercress and capers
Courgette (Cucurbita pepo var. cylindrica)
Batter and deep-fry the bloom. Generous chefs use female flowers, complete with the delicious baby marrows
Wild garlic or damson (Allium ursinum)
Lends a sweet garlicky pungency to salads, herby butter and soft cheese, soups, lamb and venison
Elder (Sambucus nigra)
For cordials, wine and jelly. The whole inflorescence can also be coated in batter and lightly deep-friend to make a lacy fritter, served powdered with icing sugar or dipped in chilli sauce
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Use the flower spikes to flavour sugar, honey and vinegar or serve with roasted meat. Scatter fresh, individual flowers in a buttery sponge cake, as with caraway seeds
Thyme (Thymus)
Flower spikes of all garden kinds of thyme enliven salads and are a superb garnish for grilled meat and trout
Daylily (Hemerocallis)
A vibrant addition to stir-fries, Chinese-style soups and salads, tasting mildly of radish and green beans (use sparingly until sure they agree with you)
Bergamot (Monarda didyma)
Brightens rice, pasta and poultry dishes. Also makes an uplifting tisane, fresh or dried
Carnations and pinks (Dianthus)
Fresh or preserved in salad, to decorate cakes and puddings and to flavour sugar, oil and vinegar
For a wider selection and further guidance, visit the RHS website: www.rhs.org.uk/advice
