Edible Flower Border
A 6×2 border where everything on show goes on the plate: borage, signet marigolds, violas, dianthus, and chamomile.
About This Template
This border does double duty: from the path it reads as a cheerful cottage edging, but every single flower in it is edible. Borage anchors both ends with its cucumber-flavored blue stars — the classic garnish for summer drinks. Signet marigolds (the gourmet Tagetes with citrus-scented petals) and chamomile for tea fill the sunny middle stretch alongside snapdragons and clove-scented dianthus, whose petals lift salads and desserts. The front rank belongs to pansies and violas — the most-used edible flowers in any kitchen — plus a block of chives whose lilac pompoms taste like mild onion and look spectacular scattered over eggs. Pick in the morning, use the same day, and never from sprayed plants.
Benefits
- 1Every bloom in the border is safe to eat — no lookup required at picking time
- 2Violas and pansies keep flowering through cool weather at both ends of the season
- 3Chamomile doubles as evening tea straight from the front garden
- 4Borage self-sows politely, refilling the border year after year
- 5Bees adore borage and chamomile as much as pastry chefs do
Growing Tips
- 1Pick flowers in the morning right after dew dries — flavor and form peak then
- 2Never spray this border with anything; it is food, not just decoration
- 3Freeze borage flowers into ice cubes for the prettiest summer drinks
- 4Deadhead whatever you don't eat to keep all of them blooming
Included Plants (8)
Borage×2
Borago officinalis
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Signet Marigold×8
Tagetes tenuifolia
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Perennial Dianthus×2
Dianthus gratianopolitanus
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Snapdragon
Antirrhinum majus
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Chamomile×4
Matricaria chamomilla
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Pansy×8
Viola x wittrockiana
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Perennial Viola×4
Viola cornuta
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Chives×4
Allium schoenoprasum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Ready to Start Growing?
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