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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Hosta 'Dancing in the Moonlight' PP 35,175
Item #: 18261
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta 'Designer Genes'
Item #: 2861
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Diamond Lake' PP 30,769
Item #: 13553
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 17" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hosta 'Dixie Cups'
Item #: 7209
Zones: 3a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hosta 'Dressed to Kill'
Item #: 13039
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Earth Angel'
Item #: 4715
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Echo the Sun' PP 35,943
Item #: 17266
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 19" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Edge of Dawn'
Item #: 15966
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 25" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Hosta 'Empress Wu' PP 20,774
Item #: 2863
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta 'Fingernails'
Item #: 11399
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 1" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Fire and Ice'
Item #: 2754
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Forbidden Fruit' PP 24,001
Item #: 15034
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Frog in my Throat' PPAF
Item #: 18292
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Gigantosaurus' PP 35,135
Item #: 18262
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Hope Springs Eternal' PP 33,266
Item #: 17171
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 22" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hosta 'June'
Item #: 1672
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Liberty'
Item #: 4736
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Lone Star' PP 35,234
Item #: 18263
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 26" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hosta 'Mini Skirt' PP 26,743
Item #: 6343
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 7" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Miss America' PP 32,068
Item #: 16522
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 19" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta 'Mouse Trap'
Item #: 9536
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 6" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'My Fair Lady' PP 35,524
Item #: 18264
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 17" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Paradigm'
Item #: 3012
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Pocketful of Sunshine' PP 23,709
Item #: 2865
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 9" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular 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.