Edible Flowers

Persian Cress or Ornamental Cress is a trendy filler green among floral artists and they keep it in regular demand. This easy to grow filler foliage grows upright, sturdy branches decorated with tiny, silvery seed pods by the thousands.The flower stems are durable and age well, turning golden at the end of the season.

Shorter than the species, Malva moschata 'Appleblossom' grows 45 to 60cm in height. The satiny, single flowers in a lovely soft shade of silver-pink, are textured and striated like crepe, they have a lustrous lacquered quality in sunlight. Wonderfully appealing to bees and other pollinators, they also make a good cut flower.

Considered by many gardeners to be the most desirable of the Malva species, this rare white-flowered form is even lovelier than the normal rose-pink Musk Mallow. Flowering throughout the summer, the pure white, scented flowers contrast beautifully with the ferny foliage.

Malva 'Bibor Felho' feature velvety, plum-purple flowers with deep purple veins which emerge from distinctive purple flower buds. A short-lived perennial that is often grown as a biennial or as an annual, this electric, willowy plant mingles well in the herbaceous border with plants of equal stature.

'Panorama' must be rated a marvelous achievement in the perfection of the whorls of flowers and the brilliance of the colours. In many shades of scarlet, bright red, pink, salmon and crimson, each plant bears up to 20 long stems. They are as long-lasting as they are dramatic and excellent for cutting.

Monarda 'Panorama Red Shades' is the first separate colour available from seed. This foolproof plant is trouble-free and a joy for the garden and vase. They bloom profusely with very distinctive flower-heads, each plant bearing up to 20 long stems and are as long-lasting as they are dramatic.

Monarda fistulosa, also known as Bergamot is famed for its medicinal qualities. While in the perennial border these lovely plants produce a mass of mauve-purple blooms (even in their first year from an early sowing) and have uniquely scented foliage. Highly attractive to bees and butterflies.

Nasturtium 'Blue Pepe' is a unique variety from Europe. A culinary variety, originally bred for the edible blue-green leaves and vivid dark red flowers. The flowers dress up a plate and pair sweetness and spice while the leaves deliver peppery punches.

Pepper ‘Picante a Mazzetti’ produces attractive cone shaped, chillies which grow vertically with many fruits per bunch. known as 'Bouquet di Peperoncini', they mature to a festive, deep scarlet red, and have a multitude of ornamental as well as edible uses. Sown May to June they will produce fruits in perfect time for Christmas.

Rosemary can be used for ornamental, culinary and medicinal purposes. The aromatic, evergreen shrub, native to the dry hills of southern Europe and North Africa, can be grown as a clipped hedge, along the edge of a retaining wall, pruned and shaped as topiaries and as a container patio plant.

Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica 'Vatican White' is a choice white cultivar that is not that easy to find. A nobly architectural Sage, each of its branched stems is topped with a profusion of blossoms with brilliant white bracts. The flowers are attractive and are boosted in impact by the large petioles that surround them.

This hardy biennial Sage has been grown in almost every botanical sanctuary in human history and has many plus points: it grows well in poor soil resists slugs and other beasties, and doesn’t slump or need staking. It copes well in sun or light shade and the blooms are a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Spilanthes acmella is a unique and versatile plant that will add texture and interest to your garden. Used by herbalists, the pretty yellow and red cone-shaped flowers and leaves have properties similar to Echinacea and has numbing properties when the leaves and flowers are chewed.

This wonderful heritage variety of alpine Strawberry produces loads of little red strawberries that are bursting with flavour. Much sweeter than their traditional commercial cousins they possess a fine, old fashioned flavour. Plants have compact growth with few runners. An alpine Strawberry that is very hard to find, excellent for high altitude climates!

Sweet Cicely is an attractive plant that is a striking component of herb gardens and hedgerows. Growing to around 90cm, umbels of tiny white flowers appear from spring to early summer. Formerly a widely cultivated culinary herb, the fern-like leaves are deeply divided and smell of aniseed when crushed.

Easy to grow and quick to flower, French Marigold 'Tangerine' blooms reliably throughout the summer with vivid orange flowers that are lifted high atop lush, scented foliage. The plant is famously used in companion planting and for making flower garlands.