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All of the aerial parts of the garden nasturtium are edible. The flower has most often been consumed, making for an especially ornamental salad ingredient. It has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of watercress, and is also used in stir fry. It is also delicious stuffed or made into peppery fritters.
Red clover's young flowers and leaves are edible raw in salads or cooked, and can be added as garnishes to any dish. They can also be ground into a flour. The flowers often are used to make jelly and tisanes. The young leaves are harvested before the plant comes into flower, and are used in salads, soups etc. On their own they can be used as a vegetable, cooked like spinach. The leaves are best cooked. They can be dried, powdered and sprinkled on foods. The seed can be sprouted and used in salads yielding a crisp and robust texture.
Native to New Zealand, both species of Phormium (NZ flax) are used widely in horticulture and landscaping, with many varieties having colourful leaves. P. cookianum is native to more mountainous regions in New Zealand, with P. tenax favouring swampier lowlands. Phormiums can occasionally be found as garden escapes, particularly in south and south-western UK.
Honeysuckle grows in woodland and along hedgerows, weaving through shrubs and trees. It is common and widespread throughout the British Isles and is native to much of Europe, North Africa, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is found as far north as southern Norway and Sweden. Growing to 7m or more in height, it is a vigorous clockwise twining climber, with deep green oval leaves with no or very short stalks arranged in pairs opposite each other.
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. They are used as a potherb or to thicken soups due to their mucilaginous texture. The root can also be eaten raw or cooked, and in Syria they are said to make a palatable dish when boiled and then fried with onions. It is often used in times of shortage. The root is also dried then ground into a powder, made into a paste and roasted to make the sweet 'marshmallow' confection which has inherited the plant’s name. The root contains about 37% starch, 11% mucilage, 11% pectin.
