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.
-
Amorphophallus konjac 'Pinto'
Item #: 4291
Zones: 7a to 9a
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: Bare Root / 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $50.00Regular priceUnit price per
-
Amorphophallus titanum
Item #: 1775
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Winter, Spring
Height: 180" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Indonesia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $85.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aralia cordata 'Sun King'
Item #: 9133
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outArisaema costatum
Item #: 6171
Zones: 6a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 40" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Nepal
Pot Size: Bare Root / 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outArisaema tortuosum
Item #: 1383
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 50" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Himalayan Mountains
Pot Size: Bare Root / 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outArum italicum 'Marmoratum'
Item #: 765
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Summer
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outArum italicum 'X-Ray'
Item #: 16574
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Summer
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outArundo donax 'Peppermint Stick'
Item #: 6677
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 144" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mediterranean Europe
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asarum crassum 'Green Glass'
Item #: 10284
Zones: 5b to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 4" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asarum fauriei var. takaoi 'Roundabout'
Item #: 9820
Zones: 4b to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella'
Item #: 388
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 50" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asclepias tuberosa
Item #: 335
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow'
Item #: 6700
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asparagus cochinchinensis 'Graham's Cracker'
Item #: 2154
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Philippines, Taiwan, Tibet, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAsphodeline lutea 'Italian Gold'
Item #: 10450
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Summer, Fall
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mediterranean Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aster mongolicus 'Hortensis'
Item #: 1219
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aster savatieri 'Edo Murasaki'
Item #: 9582
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" 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 -
Sold outAster yomena 'Shogun'
Item #: 1220
Zones: 5b to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Astilbe chinensis 'Amber Moon' PP 26,028
Item #: 5442
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Astilbe 'Chocolate Shogun' PP 26,430
Item #: 13514
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Astilbe 'Delft Lace' PP 19,839
Item #: 14594
Zones: 3a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 26" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAthyrium 'Branford Beauty'
Item #: 3662
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Athyrium filix-femina
Item #: 2260
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Europe, United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAthyrium filix-femina 'Lady in Red'
Item #: 4968
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" 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
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.