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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Ruscus aculeatus 'Andre the Giant'
Item #: 17671
Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: England, Iran, Mediterranean Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ruscus aculeatus 'Elizabeth Lawrence'
Item #: 5932
Zones: 7a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: England, Iran, Mediterranean Europe, Southern Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ruscus aculeatus 'Wheeler's'
Item #: 1371
Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 54" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: England, Iran, Mediterranean Europe, Southern Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $39.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia 'Feathers Peacock' PP 33,993
Item #: 18547
Zones: 4a to 8a
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 16" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia glabrescens 'Autumn Equinox'
Item #: 15303
Zones: 5b to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia glabrescens 'Dark Hearts'
Item #: 18887
Zones: 5b to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia glabrescens 'Elk Yellow & Purple'
Item #: 11050
Zones: 5b to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'
Item #: 5424
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia microphylla 'San Carlos Festival'
Item #: 185
Zones: 7a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Salvia x sylvestris 'Violet Riot' PP 26,273
Item #: 10370
Zones: 4a to 8a
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sedum 'Back in Black' PP 33,632
Item #: 16516
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $19.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sedum bithynicum
Item #: 2798
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Turkey
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $19.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sedum 'Bundle of Joy' PP 30,808
Item #: 14339
Zones: 3a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $19.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outSedum 'Firecracker' PP 26,595
Item #: 12731
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sedum 'Frosted Fire'
Item #: 8939
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $19.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outSedum tetractinum 'Little China'
Item #: 11758
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outSyneilesis palmata
Item #: 5617
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outTetrapanax papyrifer
Item #: 4676
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 80" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China, Taiwan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outThymus neiceffii
Item #: 18324
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 2" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Balkans
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Trachycarpus fortunei 'Bulgaria'
Item #: 4250
Zones: 7b to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 240" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Trachycarpus fortunei 'Dwarf Delights'
Item #: 16072
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 216" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Trachycarpus fortunei 'Taylor'
Item #: 3880
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 360" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outTrachycarpus fortunei 'Wagnerianus'
Item #: 4903
Zones: 7a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 240" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Unknown
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate'
Item #: 4209
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular 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 an edimental as any plant that you can eat in some form, raw or after careful preparation.
Of course not every culinary plant is as tasty as a turnip and some garden perennials require a lot of processing 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 (especially Calcium oxalate), 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. We also use pesticides (mostly organic) to keep our plants healthy, so please wait for new foliage to emerge before tasting.