[As seen in Boston’s North End.]
I took a quick picture of this planter, which hangs outside a restaurant. We thought that everything here is likely edible. Can anyone identify all the plants? Click for a much larger, much tastier view.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Planter
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comments: 6
Italian parsley and oregano, yes. Pansies, hmm. Not sure I would want to eat those. Nasturtium leaves and blossoms are edible (and the seeds can be pickled as capers) but I don't see those present. Pretty planter, though!!
I think you may be expressing personal taste, Elaine, but in case anyone else wonders, pansies are edible, and you can eat the pistils and stamens too. Pansies are also good, as Ophelia says, "for thoughts." (My Norton edition suggests that this has to do with the close sound relation between that word and "pensée." The OED concurs, the checking of which caused me to learn that before "pansy" had a pejorative meaning, it had a positive one: "a remarkable or outstanding person.")
I’d know Italian parsley anywhere. The leaves below the parsley look like basil to me, but my Elaine says oregano. Is that what you think too? By the way, Martha Stewart says pansies are edible.
It would have been easier to pinch off and taste few leaves, but the planter was right under an open window with people eating just inside. It was awkward enough taking a picture. :) Thanks for training your gardener’s eye on the scene.
Stefan, I wish I’d seen your comment before adding my own. Now I can imagine Martha Stewart saying “Pansies, they’re not just for thoughts!”
I still want to know what the spiky leaves at the bottom are all about.
The oregano is on the left, the paler green leafy stems. The leaf you think might be basil looks like pansy leaf to me. I love pansies--too pretty to eat IMO, but if they had a great or piquant flavor I might want to give them a try. I am getting away from annuals and planting more perennials these days. Just a few pots w/ petunias and lobelia for the patio.
Aha — now it’s obvious to me that those leaves are connected to stems that end in flowers. Thank you again, Elaine.
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