Recipe: Violet Foraging Makes Violet Syrup and Lemonade
Picking the violets is a sweet job! Springtime means violets and lilacs. I love having an edible landscape. Violets are one flower that brings color to my recipes and with the right violet, they even bring a sweet, sweet scent. In the Adirondack Park where I live, the purple native violets do not give off any scent. Also called blue violets (Viola sororia) these violet flowers and new spring leaves are edible and full of Vitamin C. The flower of the common blue violet (Viola sororia) has five rounded petals and is unscented while the leaves are heart-shaped. These native plants can be tossed in a spring salad adding bright floral interest. The more fragrant English wood violets (Viola ordorata) are what is most commonly used for perfumes and essential oils have naturalized in some places. The purple violets in the Adirondacks are unscented The small white violets have a sweet scent! Though there is one native sweet violet (Viola blanda) in the Adirondacks that does...