Gabriola lilacI’ve always been a big fan of edible landscaping; the idea of a low-maintenance perennial plant that looks good and tastes good too is hard to resist! So you can imagine how happy I was when I recently learned that lilac, the ultimate low-maintenance perennial, is an edible shrub. Who knew? Well apparently lots of people because I found quite a few recipes online when I started to look around.

Don’t those sound fantastic? I’m sure there are other uses as well, but even this short list makes me want to rush out and start grazing on the lilacs in the yard. One of the best things is that the lilac flowers are here at a time when relatively other things need to be picked, frozen, canned or turned into jam. I’m running low on homemade jam, so lilac jelly is going to be near the top of my to-do list. There were a few other jam/jelly recipes in those links also, using ingredients you can probably pick in your yard now, like dandelions and violets.

Happy cooking. I’ll be the one out chewing on the lilacs in the yard….

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