Eating Flowers

Summer arrives with a special abundance of wild flowers, and some of them are edible. Six edible flowers common in Alaska are rose (flowers and rose hips), bluebell (flowers and greens), dandelion (flowers and greens), fireweed (flowers and greens), violet (flowers and greens), and red clover (flowers and greens).The greens can be cooked in a stir fry, added to a salad, or mixed into a sauce. Flowers are delicious additions atop desserts and salads. Or enjoy the sweetness and ephemeral beauty of flowers by making teas, tinctures, and vinegars. Syrups are a wonderful way to preserve or enjoy summer flowers. The sugar and a bit of lemon act as a preservative. Fireweed will yield a stunning red or bright pink. Syrup can be enjoyed on pancakes, on vanilla ice cream, on yogurt, or mixed into a drink or cocktail like a plain simple syrup.