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 'Praying Hands'
Item #: 4605
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 14" 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 'Rainbow's End'
Item #: 6035
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 4" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta rectifolia 'Mito-no-hana'
Item #: 10465
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $100.00Regular priceUnit price per
Next crop available: 09/11/2026Sold out -
Hosta 'Seasons in the Sun' PP 34,284
Item #: 17273
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 28" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta 'Silly String' PP 32,127
Item #: 17103
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 14" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Simply Divine'
Item #: 13313
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Stained Glass'
Item #: 4232
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Sum and Substance'
Item #: 1102
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Thumb Bluelina'
Item #: 13365
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 5" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Touch of Class'
Item #: 4625
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outHosta 'Vanilla Bean'
Item #: 10527
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 4" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Voices in the Wind' PP 33,265
Item #: 16835
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 $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hosta 'Waterslide' PP 30,303
Item #: 12697
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 16" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 2 qt. (1.9 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Wu-La-La' PP 31,309
Item #: 14305
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Jasminum officinale 'Frojas'
Item #: 6245
Zones: 7a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 120" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Juniperus conferta 'All Gold'
Item #: 9909
Zones: 6a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outKosteletzkya virginica 'ACE Basin'
Item #: 9520
Zones: 5a 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 $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Lavandula stoechas 'Javelin Forte Deep Purple' PP 27,493
Item #: 18299
Zones: 7b to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Spain
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Ligularia japonica 'Chinese Dragon'
Item #: 9018
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Lilium formosanum Giant Form
Item #: 1356
Zones: 6a to 10a, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 84" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Taiwan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Lilium x sulphurgale 'Vico Gold'
Item #: 15362
Zones: 6a to 10a, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 84" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outLilium superbum
Item #: 2696
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 84" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. amplexicaule
Item #: 17525
Zones: 3a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
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 $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 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.