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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Opuntia cacanapa 'Ellisiana'
Item #: 5564
Zones: 7a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Osmunda cinnamomea
Item #: 1366
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Oxalis triangularis 'Atropurpurea'
Item #: 589
Zones: 7a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 8" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: South America
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Patrinia scabiosifolia
Item #: 627
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 70" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold out
Peltandra virginica
Item #: 262
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 05/24/2024Sold out -
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Foxtrot'
Item #: 6870
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'JS Jommenik' PP 27,435
Item #: 13802
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Lemon Squeeze' PP 34,634
Item #: 16517
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Jean Baby' PP 29,281
Item #: 13502
Zones: 4a to 8b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 34" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Afghanistan, China, Himalayan Mountains, Pakistan, Turkey
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Phlox paniculata 'David'
Item #: 703
Zones: 3a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Phlox paniculata 'John Fanick'
Item #: 7383
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Phlox paniculata 'Opalescence' PP 33,295
Item #: 17114
Zones: 5a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Phlox paniculata 'Thai Pink Jade' PP 22,961
Item #: 13504
Zones: 5a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum x boreiforme 'Standing Tall'
Item #: 13665
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Podophyllum difforme
Item #: 3358
Zones: 6b to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $78.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold out
Podophyllum mairei
Item #: 11689
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Podophyllum peltatum f. deamii 'Marcel Raymond'
Item #: 16855
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum peltatum 'Maid Marion'
Item #: 15374
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Summer
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum peltatum 'Missouri May'
Item #: 9703
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum peltatum 'Wagon Wheels'
Item #: 9966
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Summer, Fall
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum pleianthum
Item #: 1621
Zones: 5b to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' PP 17,361
Item #: 6301
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $55.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Podophyllum versipelle ssp. boreale
Item #: 1548
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Poliomintha bustamanta 'Super Cracker'
Item #: 17042
Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 32" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular 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.