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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Malvaviscus drummondii 'Big Momma'
Item #: 6902
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Malvaviscus drummondii 'Split Personality'
Item #: 12176
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Matteuccia struthiopteris 'The King'
Item #: 8692
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: 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 -
Sold outMukdenia rossii 'Karasuba'
Item #: 9029
Zones: 4a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Musa balbisiana var. balbisiana
Item #: 17448
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 240" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China, Papua New Guinea, Sikkim region of India, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Musa basjoo
Item #: 3064
Zones: 7a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 240" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Musa 'Siam Ruby'
Item #: 7784
Zones: 9a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: New Guinea
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Musa velutina
Item #: 5925
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: India
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Musella lasiocarpa
Item #: 3813
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Oenothera fruticosa 'Fireworks'
Item #: 8719
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Onoclea sensibilis 'Supersize'
Item #: 9212
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 $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Onoclea sensibilis 'Texas Too Tall'
Item #: 8279
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ophiopogon japonicus 'Gyoku Ryu'
Item #: 551
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ophiopogon japonicus 'Snow Globe'
Item #: 12977
Zones: 6a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 2" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Kokuryu'
Item #: 721
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 6" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outOpuntia 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 $25.00Regular 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 crassipes 'Cherry Spritzer'
Item #: 12350
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Argentina, Brazil
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outOxalis 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 -
Sold outParthenocissus quinquefolia 'Monham'
Item #: 13446
Zones: 3a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 600" tall
Culture: Sun to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Parthenocissus tricuspidata 'Fenway Park'
Item #: 3221
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 1000" tall
Culture: Sun to Shade
Origin: China, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outPatrinia 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 outPeltandra 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 per -
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
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.