A sunny day in early June

 

A sunny day in early June

Aquilegias

These two are ‘Mrs Scott-Elliot’ hybrids.

Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)

These are ‘Indian carpet’. The petals are edible and also make a relaxing herbal tea.

Campanula

Campanula flowers can be added as decoration but have little flavour.  The leaves are also edible with a very mild taste and can be added to salads.

Pansy

Pansy is another edible flower that can be used in salads or as a garnish to cakes or jellies.

Chives

Both flowers and leaves are edible. The flowers can also be deep-fried or pickled.

The commonest varieties are common (onion) chives and garlic (Chinese) chives, which have white flowers.

Perennial geranium

Flowers and leaves are edible and can be eaten raw in salads, used in teas or as decoration for cakes and desserts.

Today’s Flowers #95 – chives and rosemary

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have pretty flowers but their scent may not be as attractive as that of other flowers!

Chives are the smallest members of the onion family and the only one native to both the Old and the New World. I use it in salads amd stir-fried vegetable dishes. It is thought to be an insect-repellent, though the flowers are immensely attractive to bees, and it has been cultivated for around 5000 years.The Romans believed chives could relieve sunburn and sore throats and that it would act as a diuretic.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)is native to the Mediterranean region. The Latin name rosmarinus means 'dew' (ros) and 'sea' (marinus) meaning 'dew of the sea' because it is often found growing near the sea. There's no salt water anywhere near our garden (nothwithstanding we live on a relatively small island!) but it grows well here. I don't often use the leaves fom this evergreen herb but maybe I should since I've just discovered it is extremely high in iron, calcium and vitamin B6.Perhaps I'll steep the leaves in boiling water to make a tisane! It has many culinary uses which you can read about here.
Many thanks to the  Today's Flowers team for their dedication to this lovely weekly meme. To see more blooms - and perhaps join in - please click here.