Edible-flower grower harnesses the power of petals
Eating flowers isn’t a new thing, but a resurgence in the centuries-old practice is keeping one North Canterbury bloom grower in business year-round.
Petal & Co owner Marion Smith started growing edible flowers for consumers in 2017, and while she thought it was a trend that might pass, she’s happily surprised by the movement not fading away.
“It’s still right up there. If anything, it’s growing.
“You see them everywhere now, they’re in so many restaurants, and bars use them in cocktails. From what I’ve seen overseas, it’s still popular worldwide – sometimes I am surprised by that.”
Smith sells her non-toxic, hygienically grown flowers to commercial premises and to people wanting to brighten up a tasting platter or special occasion cake.
“A lot of the flowers I use are edible but are really just for garnish. They look good rather than being incorporated into a meal.” But she says many of them “do taste really really good”, including violas, which are “sweetly floral” and nasturtium, which has a “peppery bite”.
Her mum was a great inspiration, she says, often putting lavender in cookies and sprinkling calendula petals on salads.
“Mum was pretty experimental. She was a good cook and an excellent gardener, and combined those things.
“She used to crystalise violets and rose petals, so I’ve also done that. Although I’ve read about this since, I did that in my childhood, which is quite cool.”
And it’s not just Smith’s mum with green fingers. “I come from a family where grandparents, parents, aunties and uncles, all were excellent gardeners, it’s kind of in the blood, and most were excellent cooks. It’s difficult to escape that path.”
Along with edible fresh flowers, she also does arrangements – “I’m certainly no florist; I can put beautiful flowers together” – and dried edible flowers for customers over winter.
Smith warns that not all flowers are necessarily edible, “and some in fact are poisonous”, so it wasn’t advisable to eat flowers picked from the side of the road or bought in a bouquet.
“I have to be registered with the local council and audited by a NZ Food Safety person. Do your research or buy from a professional,” she says.
But for the edible varieties, “they’re just another item of food when it comes down to it”.
“A plant is a plant. I the leaves can be eaten, very often the flower can too, and vice versa.”