Edimental plants are ornamental plants that are also edible. Edimentals include herbs and culinary plants where some or all of the plant is safe for human consumption.
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Acorus calamus 'Variegatus'
Item #: 767
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Adiantum aethiopicum 'Barrington Belle'
Item #: 17674
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Australia, New Zealand
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Adiantum capillus-veneris 'Alabama Lace'
Item #: 4303
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agastache 'Blue Fortune'
Item #: 3209
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agastache 'Crazy Fortune' PP 31,364
Item #: 17170
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agastache 'Pink Pearl' PPAF
Item #: 17879
Zones: 6a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agastache 'Queen Nectarine' PP 34,896
Item #: 17504
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave americana 'Marshmallow Cream'
Item #: 7869
Zones: 9a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave applanata 'Butter Cream'
Item #: 13072
Zones: 9a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave asperrima ssp. maderensis 'Grand Duke'
Item #: 12313
Zones: 8a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave bracteosa 'Daddy Longlegs'
Item #: 1922
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave bracteosa 'Stingray' PP 30,280
Item #: 2167
Zones: 7b to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $39.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave desmettiana 'Joe Hoak'
Item #: 7137
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Unknown
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave funkiana 'Olympic Gold'
Item #: 11768
Zones: 9a to Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave isthmensis 'Kabuto Gani'
Item #: 13719
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave 'Kissho Kan Nishiki'
Item #: 7617
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave x leopoldii 'Painted Nails'
Item #: 11099
Zones: 8a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'Goldfinger'
Item #: 13043
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor'
Item #: 7124
Zones: 8a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'Splendida'
Item #: 8014
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 11" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave macroacantha 'Blue Ribbon'
Item #: 7568
Zones: 9a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave montana 'Tiffany'
Item #: 9871
Zones: 9a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $125.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave multifilifera 'Starshine'
Item #: 9346
Zones: 8a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave nickelsiae
Item #: 4764
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Edimentals
Humans have been cultivating plants for over 12,000 years and in that time, someone, somewhere, has tasted almost every single plant. The results weren't always pretty, but these intrepid tasters discovered an amazing variety of culinary plants that also happen to look great in the landscape.
What is an Edimental Plant?
By the strict definition, an edimental is a vegetable (leaf, root, stem) that you eat, but not a fruit, seed, herb, leaf, or any part that you make tea or alcohol from. However, for our purposes, we are going to define a culinary plant as any plant that you can eat, including herbs and spices, fruits, seeds, as well as any plant part that can be used to make tea or can be fermented into spirits.
Of course not every culinary plant is as tasty as a turnip, and some garden perennials require quite a bit of processing (cooking, pickling, etc.) to be made edible, but the adventurous perennial gardener can greatly expand their palette if they are inclined to. Included in our list are plants that can be eaten raw, plants that require cooking to remove toxic or distasteful compounds, plants that are popular with cultures outside of the US, plants that were popular edibles in the past, subsistence crops (plants that take a lot of effort to prepare but provide only a few calories) and famine crops (plants that have distasteful flavors or textures but are be eaten when times are tough).
Do Your Research
When growing edimentals in the perennial garden, it is important to know which plant part to eat. People can eat almost any plant part including roots, bulbs (corms, rhizomes, tubers), stems, twigs, bark, pith, stem hearts (cortex), immature or mature leaves, leaf petioles, fruits, flower buds, flowers, nectar, pollen, seeds, or seed oil. In preparing our list of culinary plants we consulted many sources but relied heavily on the "Plants for a Future" website (www.pfaf.org) as a reference to the edibility rating of our plants. They also provide brief preparation guidelines and notes on toxicity.
Disclaimer - we have not eaten most of these plants and advise caution and plenty of research before eating any plant in these lists. Remember, here at PDN, we grow perennial plants for their looks, not their taste.