Dahlia salad, anyone?

Today I bought two bunches of lovely dahlias at the markets. I have long loved them but have never seen them to buy them and bring them home and gaze at their loveliness!

When I was unwrapping them and snipping the ends off to put them in a vase I discovered that they drop their petals way too easily. I ended up with a lot of bald flowers. A little googling tells me that the flowers that lose their petals are old flowers that are beyond usefulness.

Though as I was cleaning up, I noticed the petals had a very peppery scent. You must be able to eat them! I checked the wikipedia page and it says

The Aztecs gathered and cultivated the dahlia for food, ceremonies, as well as decorative purposes, and the long woody stem of one variety was used for small pipes.

What a handy little flower :)

Related posts:

1. Let’s play a game
2. You’ve got red on you
3. Flowers and Fabric – What an awesome Saturday.
4. Totes houseproud
5. Pansies, ranunculus and hydrangea – oh my!