November, the flower of this month is chrysanthemum, from the asteraceae family. While the weather is dreary, colder with earlier dark nights, this beautiful bloom is cheery, hanging waiting to greet you, with a display of gorgeous bright oranges to yellows, pinks, reds, purples and white colours. Magnificent! Not only is she beautiful on these autumn days but did you know you can also eat the petals and leaves. All chrysanthemum flowers are edible, but the flavor varies widely from plant to plant, from sweet to tangy to bitter or peppery. It may take some experimentation to find flavors you like. Any type of chrysanthemum flowers can be blanched, (there are many varieties) then the petals removed and added to your favorite dish. This is easiest with large petaled varieties of mums. Use only the petals, since the flower base is usually very bitter.
Uses of chrysanthemum:
Make a tea with the leaves and petals this is a very popular tea in Aisa.
Make a wine with the flowers
Stir fry the stalks and leaves try, Garland chrysanthemum for this.
Add the leaf and petals to salads or cook as greens with some dandelion leaves for a nutritional boost to your meal.
Cake decoration using the petals.
In flower essence form, we can take chrysanthemum to help bring the light in when all else feels dark. This flower encourages endurance and stamina through difficult emotions. A potent ally for aligning the mind, body, heart, spirit connection. Chrysanthemum helps us to detach from the prescribed personalities of the material world and allows us to be our most expansive selves.
Cautions: Pyrethrum, a plant based insecticide, is made from the dried flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium or Chrysanthemum coccineum. Although it takes a pretty high concentration of flowers to make pyrethrum, I would still avoid planting these types of Chrysanthemum in an edible garden.
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