21 Edible Flowers: Weeds and Flowers You Can Actually Eat

This suburban lawn scourge boasts a truly useful nature. Flowers (minus the green parts) are edible and have more beta-carotene than carrots. Add them to salads, bread and fry them, or ferment into a fruity wine. Young leaves offer the mildest flavor and are a gourmet salad green, rich with vitamins. Harvest the roots, dry, roast and brew them for a coffee substitute.

Celebrate easy-growing beauty by planting a handful of nasturtium seeds. Both flowers and leaves are edible on this annual, offering a tangy, peppery punch. Reduce the zinginess of the flavor by keeping plants well-watered. Leaves are rich in vitamin C and make a fine addition to salads or soups. Chop flowers to add to seafood salads, or use whole blossoms to decorate cupcakes.

Gather the fresh flowers of this cheery weed to use in teas or salads. You can also pan roast blooms until crispy. Red clover flowers are packed with protein and also rich in beta-carotene, bioflavonoids and vitamins C and most of the B’s. Young leaves are somewhat tasty in salads, but they’re more of an acquired taste. Older leaves are edible, but not the best tasting. Many people are allergic to clover but don’t know it, so consume it in small amounts at first.