Cooking with Flowers (Review and Giveaway)

The cake on the cover with its creamy frosting and confetti of colorful flower petals caught my interest in the bookstore and I had to pick up the book and take a peek through its pages. 

When I saw the photographs of delicate rolled tuiles cookies freckled with dianthus flowers and the oven baked doughnuts with lilac cream filling I knew I had to get a copy of this beautiful cookbook. 

I could hardly wait to try my own hand at making the jars of pastel-colored flower jellies that I saw in its pages.

You may think that eating flowers sounds exotic and unusual, but chances are already eating flowers and just don't realize it. 

Artichokes, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli. 

They're all flowers! 

As author Miche Bacher points out, edible flowers add color, complexity and even a sense of mystery to cooking that leaves you pondering the origin of the subtle flavour notes in sweet treats and savoury dishes. 

Each edible flower adds a unique and often surprising flavour- calendula flowers are peppery, dandelion flowers have a honey-like taste, daylilies taste like fresh, sweet lettuce leaves and orchids taste like a mix between cucumber and endive. 

Cooking with Flowers is divided into a series of floral chapters. At the beginning of each, the author offers the botanical name of each flower as well as notes on the background of its culinary use, seasonality, preparation and measure. 

At the very end of the book there are additional suggestions to stock-up your winter pantry with candied flowers, simple flower syrups, vinaigrettes, jellies, flower ice creams and sorbets.

The first thing I decided to tackle were the flower jellies.

You will be glad to know that the receipe's method was pretty straightforward and fairly quick. 

Very briefly: first you make an infusion of rose petals using boiling water. After it stands for at least a couple of hours you strain away the petals, and bring the flower-infused liquid to a rolling boil. Then it is a simple matter of adding lemon juice, sugar and powdered pectin. 

The author advises that the finished jelly can be refrigerated for up to a month, or if you can the jelly, it can last up to a year in your pantry.

So how do you imagine Rose Petal Jelly tastes?

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I made it. In the end, I was surprised: it didn't taste floral and it didn't entirely taste like standard fruit jellies either. The closest descriptive I can think of is the tang of crabapple jelly with a hint of citrus.

I also tried my hand at making a Nasturtium jelly.

Last night, I sliced and buttered a baguette, rubbed it with a little garlic and then spread on some fresh goat cheese. After toasting the little round baguette slices under the broiler for a few seconds, I added a dollop of the translucent nasturtium jelly and a sprig of lemon thyme. I served the little toasts with a glass of wine. Yum!

After my initial success I am really looking forward to trying some of the cookbook's other recipes. Carrot Sunflower Sandwich Cookies with Creamy Sunflower Frosting! 

Now doesn't that sound delicious!

Quirk books has kindly given me a review copy that I am going to giveaway in a draw to one lucky reader. 

To enter the book draw, please leave a comment below. I ask all entrants to make sure there is some kind of link available to their email address. I need to have a way to get hold of you should you be a winner! 

The Cooking with Flowers book draw will remain open for one week.

I am going to link this review/giveaway to Holley's monthly garden book reviews meme. To discover other really great gardening books, please click the link: Roses and other Gardening Joys.

More Information and Links:

Quirk Books Homepage.

Quirk Books Cooking with Flowers webpage. You can see a preview of pages from the book by clicking "View Interior Spread". 


About Miche Bacher, author of Cooking with Flowers: Informed by a diverse background in culinary, visual and healing arts, Miche Bacher cofounded Mali B Sweets which specializes in cakes, chocolate, and other sweet treats that are made from fresh, local ingredients. Miche is constantly seeking out creative uses for herbs, flowers and spices in recipes both sweet and savory. She resides in Greenport, New York with her husband Noah, her two sons and their dog Mali.

About the book's Photographer Miana Jun: Miana Jun is an international photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. To see some of Miana's beautiful photographs and a sampling of her work for Cooking with Flowers, please click the link.
Please Note: Other than the cover, the author and the photographer's picture, the images in this post are my own.

Creating An Ornamental Herb Garden

Why grow herbs?

The dried herbs that come in those little glass bottles might be convenient, but chances are they aren't particularly fresh. Dry some homegrown herbs yourself and you'll immediately see the difference. Even the herbs in the fresh produce department of the grocery store may have travelled miles since they were first picked. They never taste as fresh as the herbs you pick from your own garden.

Herbs are uniquely versatile plants.They not only have culinary uses, but medicinal and decorative uses as well. With herbs, you can brew some homemade tea, season a dish, add them to salads or dry them to make fragrant wreaths. 

Herbs are also easy to grow. Some of the Mediterranean herbs can be a bit fussy about drainage, but if you get the growing conditions right, they are pretty undemanding plants.

The main inspiration for this post is the ornamental herb garden at the Agricultural Campus of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. 

The garden was designed by Carol Goodwin and is laid out in a formal "four-quarter" design. Two of the quadrants have a blue, mauve and pink flowers. The final quadrants are white and gold flowers. 

Starting on the top left: Chervil, Basil, Thai Basil. Bottom: Rosemary, Dill and Thyme.

 A few key Culinary Herbs:

• Rosemary, Rosmarinnus officinalis (annual or perennial depending on your zone): I like to sprinkle fresh rosemary (or dried depending on the season) on parboiled potatoes just before I roast them. Mixed with a dijon mustard and a little black pepper, rosemary is also makes a great seasoning for roast pork. Rosemary isn't hardy in my garden zone. It's slow to grow, so I like to buy a generous size plant each spring. In late summer, I harvest what's left in the garden and dry it. Rosemary likes a hot, sunny spot with excellent drainage. USDA zones: 6-10.

• Thyme, thymus vulgaris (perennial) is another Mediterranean herb that's easy to grow providing you get the growing conditions right. It likes poor, pebbly soil that has excellent drainage. Planted in fertile soil or in anything less than full sun, thyme won't be happy. Thyme can be used to season eggs, biscuits, vegetables and meat. USDA zones: 5-9.

• Sage, Salvia officinalis (perennial) is a classic herb that is used to flavour poultry, soups and stuffing. With a little protection, sage overwinters in my garden quite nicely. Each spring I simply prune the plant hard to encourage fresh growth. If your starting from scratch this spring, buy a small plant at a local nursery or garden centre. Plant it in a sunny, dry spot with good drainage. USDA zones:5-8.

• Basil, Ocimum basilicum (annual) is great paired with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. It's also nice in summer salads and makes a delicious pesto for pasta, pizza and sandwiches. Basil likes heat, so it is best to plant it around the same time you plant tomatoes (Basil and tomatoes make great companion plants). USDA zones: 2-11.

• French Tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus (annual) is used in soups and with chicken or fish. Purchase small nursery plants in the spring and plant them in a sunny spot that is dry and well-drained. USDA zones: 4-9.

• Cilantro, Coriandrum Sativum (annual) Not everyone is a fan of cilantro, which has quite a strong flavour. It's nice in curries, in Thai noodle soup and guacamole. Cilantro likes cool weather, so sow your seeds early in the season or in the late summer/early fall (depending on your zone). Full sun to part-shade. Cilantro grows quickly and can bolt into flower, so shear off the foliage with a pair of scissors as soon as your plants are a few inches tall. If you want the spice coriander, allow the plants to flower and then harvest and dry the seeds. USDA zones: 2-11.

Herbs best grown in Containers:

There are two reasons I can think of to consider growing herbs in containers. The first is convenience. Last summer I had a pot of herbs by the back door and I found it was nice to have them close at hand when I was in a rush to get dinner ready.

1. Golden Lemon Thyme 2. Oregano 3. Sage 4. Parsley  5. French Tarragon  6. Purple Basil

7. Vietnamese Basil 8. Silver Thyme

My container planting for this year is pretty full, but it's a generous pot and I will routinely harvest from it throughout the growing season.

Oregano with Sage in behind it.

Aggressive plants are the second reason for growing herbs in containers. For example:

• Oregano, Origanum (perennial) is a Mediterranean herb that thrives in sunny, dry conditions in poor soil. It spreads quickly so it's a good one to plant in a container. The fresh and dried foliage is a key ingredient in Italian, Greek and Spanish cooking. USDA zones: 3-11.

• Mint, Mentha (perennial) is a spreader, but it's a nice herb to have for tea and flavouring summer drinks. Mint doesn't seem to be particularly hardy in my garden, so I replace it every spring with a new plant from the garden centre. Full sun. USDA zones: 5-11

• Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis (annual) is a member of the mint family and has the same spreading habit. Fresh leaves are nice in fruit salads, in tea and on fish. Full sun, USDA zones: 8-11.

• Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare (perennial) has yellow, button-shaped flowers. Tansy spreads by creeping rhizomes and also self-seeds vigorously, so consider carefully how and where you plant it. Tansy is said to repel insects and dries well for use in fall arrangements. Part shade. USDA zones: 4-8.

Sweet Woodruff, Galium odoratum (perennial) is a great groundcover for shade, but can be a nuisance if planted in the wrong place. Sweet Woodruff can quickly colonize a good-sized area. The dried leaves and flowers have a fresh, hay scent that makes them great for potpourris. Part-shade to full shade. USDA zones 4-8.

Mediterranean Herb Garden

I keep hearing the experts recommend that you replace the soil in your container plantings every year. It makes sense that soil nutrients will get depleted over time, but what do you do with the old soil?

I remember hearing one gardening expert saying that she "throws the old soil out." I have often wondered what she means. Does she dump the soil in the garbage? Out back somewhere? 

1. Silver Thyme, thymus vulgaris 2. Rosemary 3. Lavender 4. Golden Lemon Thyme 5. Penny Violet

It's got me thinking. Why not reuse the soil?

Mediterranean herbs love poor soil! Of course you may have to improve the drainage by mixing in a little fine gravel or maybe some perlite, but the herbs like thyme, rosemary and oregano thrive in poor soil and hot, baking conditions, so why not reuse that old soil for them? Nasturtiums are another example of a plant that would also be fine with soil from last season's containers.

Bee Balm, Bergamont or Monarda

Flowering Herbs:

A herb garden can be just as colorful as a standard flower garden. Flowering herbs not only add an ornamental quality to the garden, they are often edible. Many herbal flowers have cosmetic uses as well.

Chives, Allium schoenoprasum (perennial) couldn't be easier to grow. Chives form grass-like clumps and produce round, mauve flowers in spring. The hollow leaves have a mild oniony flavour. The flowers can be eaten as well or used as a garnish. Full sun and average garden soil are fine for this plant. Chives are prolific self-seeders, so cut back the foliage hard to a few inches above the ground before the blooms set seed. The clump will look bedraggled for a week or two and then you should see nice, fresh growth. USDA zones: 3-10.

Pot Marigold, Calendula (annual) is easy to grow from seed. Calendula is sometimes known as "poor man's saffron". Fresh flower petals have a number of cosmetic uses and is nice in salads. Full sun and average garden soil. USDA zones: 3-9.

Bee Balm, Bergamont or Monarda (perennial) is native to eastern North America and has a history of being used by Native North Americans as a medicinal plant. Monarda has somewhat crazy looking mop-head flowers in shades of pink, red, white and lavender. The main reasons for growing Monarda is its aromatic foliage that smells a bit like mint. The fresh leaves can be brewed to make a nice tea. Monarda likes rich, moist soil and a sunny spot. It's also a plant that butterflies and hummingbirds adore. USDA zones: 4-9. 

Dill, Anethum graveolens (annual) is one of my favourite herbs. I love it mixed into mashed potatoes, sprinkled on salmon and used in cold summer pasta salads. Even the flowers are pretty and delicate. The seeds have a use in pickles and vinegars. Dill likes full sun and good, rich soil. It gets tall, so grow it in a spot sheltered from winds or stake it as needed. USDA zones: 2-11.

Fennel with the blue flowers of Love-in-the-Mist, Nigella in the foreground.

Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare (perennial) resembles dill in appearance and has fine feathery foliage and floral umbels. The bulbs, stalks and seeds are all edible. Full sun. USDA zones: 7-10.

German Chamomile, Matricaria recutita (annual) is another herb that's easy to grow from seed. German chamomile grows about two feet tall, and when dried, the flower petals make a soothing tea that promotes sleep and soothes an upset stomach. As well as tea, chamomile has cosmetic and culinary uses. A word of warning: German chamomile reseeds itself readily. Full sun. USDA zones: 3-10.

Betony, Stachys officinalis (perennial) forms a low mound of green leaves and has mauve or pink flower spikes mid-summer. The uses for this plant are both culinary and medicinal. This is one flowering herb that will tolerate part-shade. USDA zones 4-8.

Lavender, Lavandula (perennial) Good drainage is absolutely essential when growing lavender. Cold won't do them in, but wet and soggy ground in winter will cause them to parish. If you have clay soil, amend it with sand and small pebbles to increase the drainage. Another enemy of lavender is the wind. Plant lavender in a sheltered, sunny spot, where they are protected from harsh winter winds. Full sun. USDA zones: 4-8.

Notes on extending the seasons of bloom:

Incorporating a range of flowering plants should insure your herb garden has color all season long.

Spring Flowering Herbs:

Chives- mauve flowers
Foxglove-magenta-pink, white or peach flowers
Sweet Woodruff-white flowers

Summer Flowering:

Echinacea- pink, magenta,yellow, orange and orange-red flowers
Nigella- blue flowers and lovely ferny foliage.
Thyme- tiny pink, mauve or white flowers
Nasturtium- a range of colors including yellow, orange and red
Monarda, Bergamont- pink, white, lavender, purple, red and maroon flowers
Calendula- yellow and orange
Camomile- white daisy-like flowers with a yellow centre
Geranium- a range of colors including pink, white, mauve and magenta
Lavender- white, purple and dark purple flowers
Sage- blue flowers

Rosemary- small pale-blue flowers

Late Summer/Fall

Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum-blue flowers

Calendula– yellow and orange flowers

Garlic Chives– white flowers mid-to-late summer

Marigold flowers can be used as a dye.

Love-in-the-Mist, Niegella

Planting a herb garden provides you with something that is as beautiful as it is practical. I hope this post encourages you to try growing your own herb garden this spring.

Always Take Time to Stop and Smell the Roses…then eat them

Gathering dinner: dandelion greens, wax beans, and day lily buds will soon hit the pan with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper and be all the better for it! Photograph by Signe Langford

Wax beans, and day lily buds. Photograph by Signe Langford

by Signe Langford

Eating flowers is not as out there as it once was. Back in the 1990s only a handful of avant guard chefs were dotting their massive white plates with pretty posies. Now, it seems, almost everyone is doing it. In fact, you’ve been doing it for some time – eating flowers that is – possibly without even knowing it.

Capers are pickled Mediterranean nasturtium buds; vanilla is the stamen of a climbing yellow orchid native to Mexico; and the costly threads of saffron – another stamen – are plucked by hand from the centre of the deep purple saffron crocus; while the exotic perfume of roses and orange blossoms flavour many dishes in South East Asian, Mediterranean, and North African cuisine.

Some flowers make it to our tables incognito. Hops is a green flower that give beer bitterness and complexity of flavour; artichokes are really big thistles; and okra is a tasty member of the family Malvaceae – or mallow – which includes hollyhock, marshmallow, cotton and about 25 other siblings.

And we’re just getting started. We’ve not even touched on all the wonderful wild blossoms right there, under our noses – literally! – for the taking and potentially, baking.

Daylily. Photograph by Signe Langford

But first, here are a few edible flower dos and don’ts:

• If you haven’t tried eating a raw flower yet, try one then wait a while to see if you’re fine with it or allergic. If you have a pollen allergy, then eating flowers may not be for you.

• Only buy organic flowers from the grocer. Honestly, you’re better off growing your own, or buying from a certified organic grower or someone else you trust.

• This is a biggie: just because the flower is edible, it doesn’t necessarily mean the whole plant is. And vice versa; just because the plant is edible, it doesn’t necessarily mean the flower is. Plants store their chemicals—sometimes toxins—in different parts, so check first.

• Always wash delicately in cold water, and inspect for bugs.

• Never pick flowers from roadsides, along train tracks, or from lands and gardens you are not very familiar with. These plants may have been absorbing toxins and petro-chemicals.

• Don’t buy flowers to eat from the florist, they will most likely have been exposed to chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, perhaps even dyes.

• Again, this comes down to research, but depending on the flower, it may be best to remove pistils and stamens from the bloom, and eat only the petals.

• And never, ever, eat flowers that you do not know for 100 percent certain are edible. Once again, when in doubt, consult an expert.

Linden flowers.  Photograph by Signe Langford

From my own garden, I’ve enjoyed day lily, monarda, lilac, crabapple, eastern redbud, dandelion, linden, pansy, violets, clover, milkweed, rose, nasturtium, squash blossom, borage, marigold…and I’m sure I’m forgetting some pretty little thing.

Clover. Photograph by Signe Langford

Clover. Photograph by Signe Langford

Edible flowers can be added to just about anything. Don’t just think sweets, candies, and desserts, many edible blooms are actually quite peppery–monarda is a blissful blend of sweet and heat!—and make brilliant additions to savoury dishes.

Fresh red clover flowers are meaty, chewy, and taste like raw green beans. Add flowers to salads or as a stunning garnish to any dish, hot or cold, raw or cooked. Work pretty blossoms into foods where they’ll still get to shine; nestled into pancakes in the pan, dropped last minute into crepe batter, pressed into raw cookies before baking or into frosting; or even rolled into fresh pasta sheets.

While researching my second book – all about gardening and cooking with indigenous edible plants, no publisher yet! – I discovered so very much and yes, I ate a lot of weeds and wild flowers.

Here’s my recipe for Milkweed Simple Syrup 

Milkweed is a plant that continues to astound and enchant me. I’ve learned that First Nations people used to boil milkweed flowers in water; they’d let the water boil down until there was nothing but a thick, sweet, syrup left. This they would use as sugar.

And while I don’t didn’t feel compelled to re-enact history, I do think a milkweed-infused sweet syrup would be nice in cocktails so…

Milkweed flower. Photograph by Signe Langford

The makings of Milkweed Simple Syrup. Photograph by Signe Langford

I simply boiled up about 2 cups (500 mL) of water and added an equal amount of sugar. Once the sugar was all dissolved, I allowed it to cool for about 10 minutes while I prepared my jar.

Into a large mason jar I added about 5 of the loveliest milkweed flowers I could find; making sure there were no bugs or spiders lurking, and then poured the warm syrup in.

I put the lid on and allowed it all to steep for about 1 week; then discarding the flowers.

What resulted was a pretty pink, curiously herbaceous, sweet and mucilaginous syrup that works beautifully with gin!

Summer Celebration Salad. Photograph by Donna Griffith.

Summer Celebration Salad with Feta, Watermelon, Berries and Petals with a Blueberry Honey Vinaigrette

For the greens and herbs in this salad pick any combination of exotic or conventional, wild or domesticated: arugula, spinach, dandelion, lamb’s quarters, nasturtium leaves, baby kale, or even experiment with a few tender springtime maple leaves.

Likewise, pick whatever edible petals and berries you have on hand at the moment; in this recipe, I’m listing the flowers that I used to make the one in the photo, but you can get even more exotic, think sweetly scented maple, hawthorn, linden or eastern redbud blossoms or pluck petals from arrowhead, bee balm, chicory, eastern spring beauty, red clover, roses, evening primrose and spiderwort.

And, seriously, use this salad to celebrate summer as well as spring; just change up the combination of ingredients to reflect the season!

1 cup (250 mL) tender new peas, blanched

1 small purple onion, halved, then thinly sliced

1 cup (250 mL) feta, cubed

2 cups (500 mL) watermelon, cubed

½ cup (125 mL) fresh blueberries; or raspberries, serviceberries, mulberries…

5 small radishes, trimmed and very thinly sliced (about 1 cup/250 mL)

½ an English cucumber, very thinly sliced

About 1 cup (250 mL) of mixed leaves, domestic and wild

1 Tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped mint

4 daylily flowers, stamens removed, petals separated

4 nasturtium flowers, whole or petals separated

1 frilly type marigold, green part removed, petals separated (if using single bloom marigolds, use 4)

Blueberry Honey Vinaigrette 

I use Canadian blueberry honey—those busy bees keep North American blueberry bushes in fruit! – Featherstone Winery’s verjus, and Canadian-grown canola oil from Pristine Gourmet; it’s beautiful, deep-yellow, nutty stuff.

3 Tbsp (45 mL) olive or local cold pressed canola oil

1 Tbsp (15 mL) verjus or very good apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp (15 mL) blueberry honey

1 tsp (5 mL) Dijon-style mustard

¼ tsp (1 mL) sea salt

Black pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette, add the oil, verjus or vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper to a medium bowl and whisk until well blended. Set aside.

To make the salad, blanch the peas. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the peas and boil for 1 minute. Drain and transfer peas to a bowl of icy water. Allow to sit in the cold water until the peas are completely cooled, then drain and set aside to dry a bit.
Into a very large bowl add all the salad ingredients, including the cooled and drained peas, add the vinaigrette, and very gently toss; petals bruise easily. Tumble onto a serving platter and garnish with a final drizzle of honey.

Serves 4 as a starter

This post was written by Signe Langford

Signe Langford is a restaurant-chef-turned-writer who tells award-winning stories and creates delicious recipes. She is a frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Life, Canadian Living and Garden Making magazines. In 2105, Signe published her first book Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs; Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden- with 100 Recipes. 

Raised in the town of Hudson, Quebec Signe grew up surrounded by an ever changing menagerie of critters, both wild and domestic, and her special affection for all feathered creatures has never flagged. At present, she shares a downtown Toronto Victorian with a tiny flock of laying hens. For more stories and recipes please visit www.signelangford.com

The Tangled Garden

Gardener and entrepreneur are not two words you commonly see used together to describe someone, but both are perfect descriptives for Beverly McClare.

For a short while after finishing university, Beverly operated a café in Wolfville, Nova Scotia before she purchased a fixer-upper that sat on an unremarkable bit of land in nearby Grand-Pré. There Beverly began to grow and dry flowers and herbs that she used to make wreaths, which she sold at area craft shows.

When the recession hit in the 1990's, Beverly had to rethink her business plan and extend her offering beyond decorative crafts. It was a magazine photo of a herb vinegar that again fired her creative side. With that image as inspiration, she could envisage the potential of harvesting her own homegrown herbs and making a range of fine foods that she could sell. She began experimenting with unexpected flavour pairings and created a range of herb vinegars. From there, she went on to make the line of herb jellies, which remain the mainstay of her business to this day.

The new range of products proved to be very successful. That gave Beverly the funds to purchase additional acreage and expanded what she refers to as her "edible landscape." In more recent years the product range has grown to include oils, mustards, herb-infused honey, syrups, salsas, liqueurs and cordials.

Today there are stacks of herb-infused preserves that glow like jewels in the windows of the Tangled Garden Shop. From wooden ceiling beams, bundles of drying flowers and herbs have been hung to dry. In one corner of the shop, there is a cane chair studded with drying chive blossoms. A chalkboard sign reserves this special spot for gnomes, elves and fairies.

From the gardens that now sprawl over four acres, herbs, berries, fresh fruit and vegetables are harvested, prepared and bottled. Each day one hundred bottles of preserves are produced, six jars at a time. The finished preserves are sold not only in the little shop, but also at artisan shows and online.

The extensive garden continued to flourish and Beverly decided to open it to the public for a nominal admission charge. Now thousands of visitors flock to the Tangled Garden each year.

While some plants in the garden are ornamental, the vast majority are harvested for use.

Each area of the garden has its own character and special features. Here the herbs and flowers are planted in a series of raised wooden beds with gravel pathways.

The herb Borage with its pretty blue flowers.

Some of the Annual Herbs include:

Anise, Basil, Borage, Chamomile, Dill, Chervil, Calendula, Tarragon,Mint and Caravay

Perennial Herbs: 

Bee Balm, Chives, Geranium, Fennel, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Lavender, Angelica (biennial) 

Fruits & Berries:

Blackberry, Rhubarb, Currants, Grapes and Quince

Smoke Bush, Cotinus

On either side of a dry stream bed, there are tall ornamental grasses, the pink plumes of Queen of the Prairie, pink Coneflowers and blue Sea Holly, Eryngium with its grey-green foliage. 

Many of these flowers make it into Beverly's dried arrangements.

A dried arrangement in the shop.

Flowers that can be hung to dry include:

Artemisia 'Silver king' (Grey foliage you see here. Warning: this is an invasive plant.)

Sea Holly, Eryngium

Strawflowers, Helichrysum bracteatum

Roses 

Feverfew

Love-in-the-mist, Nigella (seedheads are wonderfully ornamental)

Statice, Limonium

Love Lies Bleeding, Amaranthus Cruentus

Hydrangea Paniculata

Poppy (seedheads)

Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Sea Lavender or Limonium latifolium

Gomphrena

Honesty, Lunaria annua

Yarrow, Achilla

For further information on hanging flowers to dry, read this post: Simple Techniques for Drying Flowers.

I can't remember ever seeing such tall pink Astilbe. They must love the abundant rain of a wet Nova Scotia spring.

Bee balm, Monarda. The  petals can be pulled from the flower 

and used as a substitute for mint. 

Looking for ways to experiment with flower petals in your cooking? Check out this cookbook.

Lavatera, a very pretty annual flower.

A view of the garden with an Annabelle Hydrangea in the middle distance.

One of the garden's most remarkable features is a flower labyrinth that is 80 feet in diameter. Usually a labyrinth involves some sort of hedge, but here, in an open field with a view of the surrounding countryside, the spirals are floral.  

Drawing visitors toward the centre of the labyrinth is a large metal sculpture.

The "walls" of the labyrinth are a mix of plants including yellow daylilies, blue cornflowers, Lady's Mantle, and Betony (purple flowers).

One of the more recent additions is a unique waterfall where water tumbles down a series of steps.

Making the herb jellies that the Tangled Garden is especially known for, is a slow process. It takes a full day to chop the fresh-picked herbs, make the sweet or savoury juice and bottle the jelly. "The garden is soulful to me," says Beverly,"It gives me back so much more than I give it."

More information and Links:

The Tangled Garden Shop is located in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia. The garden is open to the public with a $5 admission charge, daily from 10 am to 6pm from April to December. For more details visit the Tangled Garden website.

Watch a short video about Beverly McClare and the Tangled Garden