Food gardeners delight in familiar edible plants that look lovely in the garden. That may be a row of red and green lettuces, cushions of frizzy endive, peppers in yellow, orange and red, frilly kale, purple-podded beans. glossy eggplant, rosy-purple radicchio, or multi-coloured Swiss chard stems.
Less familiar to most of us are foods that can be harvested from some of the hardy plants that we grow as ornamentals.
Extraordinary Ornamental Edibles: 100 Perennials, Trees, Shrubs and Vines for Canadian Gardens, by Mike Lascelle (Douglas & McIntyre, 288 pages, paperback, $24.95). Here鈥檚 a colourful, practical guide that takes the concept of the 鈥渆dible landscape鈥� to a heightened level. I can almost guarantee that gardeners reading this book will be surprised to discover the culinary potential of ornamentals in their gardens.
Consider the lilac, whose flowers are described as having a floral taste, 鈥渨ith a hint of citrus and violet.鈥� They can be candied, or used to make jelly and to flavour ice cream. Lascelle gives a recipe for lilac syrup, which he makes for adding to tea and cold summer drinks.
A former neighbour, an adventurous gardener-cook, one day brought me a jar of the most delicious jelly made with dark purple fuchsia berries. Because this book deals mainly with hardy plants that supply food, in presenting fuchsia as a food plant the author suggests using the berries of the commonly grown shrub Fuchsia magellanica and its numerous varieties, with a note to expect variations in berry flavour among them.
Lascelle expressed the hope that a plant called Fuchsiaberry, bred in England for its delicious fruit, may be available here before long.
Grown in too few gardens is pheasant berry (Leycesteria formosa, Himalayan honeysuckle), a popular shrub in the Victorian area. Its hollow, bamboo-like stems bear drooping clusters of white and deep purple flowers followed by glossy, reddish-purple berries that birds love. The taste is described as bitter chocolate with burnt caramel, 鈥済ood for blending with other fruits in baking and preserves.鈥�
A friend has in her front garden an Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), a small tree with colourful, heart-shaped leaves and rosy spring flowers that 鈥渢aste as good as they look.鈥� Lascelle uses the flowers raw in salads and makes fritters or pancakes with them.
Cornus kousa (Japanese dogwood) bears reddish-pink fruits. When ripe, they are 鈥渟lightly hard outside with a hint of peach scent, while the contents are soft and custard-like with a sweet mild mango taste.鈥� Among perennials, the familiar flowers of tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) have 鈥渁 mild spicy or peppery flavour best enjoyed fresh.鈥�
Each entry in the book has its own two-page layout with colour photos and the author鈥檚 personal notes on the plant with recommended varieties. As well there is a sidebar with the basics, including plant type, size, bloom time, water and other needs, and pruning tips. Beside or below the photos are brief indications of the plant鈥檚 edible parts, harvest time, and taste qualities.
GARDEN EVENTS
Peninsula meeting. The Peninsula Garden club will meet on Monday at 7聽p.m. in the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. Kerry Seifried will present Succulents: The Good, the Bad and the Quirky. Seifried will have succulents for sale at the meeting. Everyone is welcome. Non-member drop-in fee $5. The evening includes a parlour show, plant stall, master gardeners and library access.
Floral art. The Victoria Floral Artists Guild will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Guests are welcome for a drop-in fee of $5, applicable to new membership. Suzanne Barker will present highlights and photos from the most recent Chelsea Flower Show, followed by a workshop to create flower posies for distributing in the community to celebrate the Lonely Bouquet Initiative. Find details on this project at .
Qualicum meeting. The Qualicum Beach Garden Club will meet on Tuesday at 7:30聽p.m. in the Q.B. Civic Centre on Jones St. Guests are welcome for a fee of $3. Devmurti Khalsa from Denman Island () will present Growing Hardy Fig Trees and other Great Unusual Edibles on Vancouver Island.
Nanaimo meeting. The Nanaimo Horticultural Society will meet on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in First Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 595 Townsite Rd. Amy Robson will speak about Alternatives to Grass. A parlour show will feature judging of spring flowers and early vegetables. Information at 250-758-6783.
