Flowers by Post For Mothers Day But Be Careful, She Might Eat Them

Mothers Day approaches again, 14th March this year and your thoughts will turn to what to get your Mum that will please her on the special day.

Flowers by post from Guernsey are a good place to start. Giving her flowers is an old tradition started when children would pick a posy of flowers from their gardens to take to church on Mothers Day to make a procession and present them to their Mums.

So you say OK, flowers by post it is, they don’t cost too much and are fresh picked and packed but, what of the rumours I have recently heard? Some flowers are edible! Oh no, if you choose to buy her these blooms will she be tucking into them instead of admiring them in a vase?

Which flowers are edible then and which are high risk from your point of view, of your Mum eating the flowers and putting the chocs in a vase.

Well carnations are one of the main culprits here, for eons of years their petals have been used in cooking and in salads, in fact they are one of the secret ingredients in the liqueur Chartreuse. The petals have to be removed and the white bits at the bottom cut off, but then it seems, they get eaten or cooked for the bitter flavour they impart.

Another risky bloom to give her would be marigolds, the flowers not the rubber gloves, although if she is looking likely to start chomping, then maybe gloves would indeed be a better choice. Floral marigold petals are widely used in soups and salads and give a spicy taste. So they say, I haven’t been tempted to eat any as yet.

Then there are chrysanthemums, a popular choice of flower for Mothers Day due to their lasting qualities but beware, they get eaten too in many parts of the world, they are tangy and have to be blanched before eating. It may be that colour would come in to the risk equation here, she might be tempted to eat say, yellow ones but not fancy the pink ones.

Well I do jest of course but not completely, these flowers do get eaten and they do give various flavours and colours to Chinese cookery, Thai and Indian dishes not to mention old English recipes for soups and salads. Herbs too have flowers and are used as flavourings without a thought, but somehow that seems ok whilst eating flower petals might be a step too far. It makes no sense but it is often thus in the world of what we will eat and what we won’t.

So how do I end this discourse, I think I will suggest to you that it is worth the risk and that you should look for some fluffy pink carnations, pink is not an edible temptation as would be yellow. So pink carnations will be ok and I have a good company suggestion for them, but if you are feeling doubtful after reading all my ‘health and safety’ risk assessments above, then maybe go for the strictly inedible Guernsey freesias and orchids also from the same grower, you’ll be safe enough.

By: Ce Alflatt

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