Medicinal Plants

When it comes to violets and dandelions, Bennett said you can eat the leaves as well as the flower. Don’t however, eat the redbud tree, she said.

According to Bennett, eating flowers can help improve spring allergies. The more pollen rich the flower, the more it will help. Dandelion flowers are known to improve lymphatic flow and immunity, she said. They also combat bacteria.

Dandelion greens have a bitter flavor that is good for the liver, so whether you eat the leaves or not, try to include the bit of green underneath the yellow blossom. You should also notice an immediate increase energy after eating dandelions, Bennett said, and chewing the stalk can help regulate blood sugar.

"Eating wild greens or flowers is one of the quickest ways people will notice a difference in their health," Bennett said.

Whether looking to improve your health or looking to brighten your dining room table after a long winter, flowers can be beneficial for both mind and body.

"The main benefit to eating flowers is to lift your spirits," Bennett said. "That’s one of nature’s antidepressants."

She suggests eating flowers whole on a salad for a beautiful, colorful and uplifting meal. Dandelion flowers can also be eaten whole, shredded, or battered and cooked like a fritter.

Gathering & safety precautions

When collecting any wild food, Bennett recommends taking no more than 15 to 20 percent of what’s in a plant community – even if that community is your backyard. With dandelions and violets however, she said this rule can usually be broken. Dandelions are so abundant that many people use pesticides to remove them from their yard. To spend money to kill such a beneficial and tasty plant is a waste, Bennett said.

Violets, on the other hand, produce two types of flowers. According to Randall G. Prostak of the University of Massachusetts extension for Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry, the five petal purple, blue or white flowers that bloom on leafless stalks from April to June are infertile.

Therefore eating them will not damage the reproductive quality of the plant. The fertile flowers are less conspicuous, never open and tend to bury themselves in the ground.

You can eat any violet of the viola family, Bennett said, regardless of color. Pansies are also violas, she said, and another tasty type of spring flower. African violets, however, are not edible.

When picking dandelions, be careful not to confuse it with the colt’s foot flower, which Bennett said can look similar. Colt’s foot is also edible, she said, but not as tasty. Dandelions will grow from a toothed leaf and have a smooth stalk whereas the stalk of the colt’s foot flower is completely covered in fur.

A pamphlet published by the Kansas State University Johnson County Extension of Master Gardeners said not to eat florist or garden center flowers, or those that have been picked along a roadside. Choose organically grown flowers, and always be certain of what you are eating, as flowers will undoubtedly impact your health.

Refer to a reputable guide, or better, learn about edible plants from an expert such as Bennett on one of her many "weed walks" or free lectures which take place monthly in West Milford. For a schedule visit RobinRoseBennett .com.

"The key is to eating wild plants is you must slow down and be present about what you’re doing," Bennett said. "That’s the most healing part about eating wild plants – everything else in life asks you to multitask, but for wild eating you must be present, you don’t just pick, ever."