Be sure not to eat florist or foraged flowers, which likely contain pesticides and preservatives, and don’t assume every edible plant’s flowers are also edible. Here, we offer a primer to selecting nine of summer's tastiest blooms.

Borage

Taste: Faintly like cucumber. Use: A common garnish for drinks, it is also sometimes sugared and dried to garnish cakes.

Dianthus

Taste: Lightly spicy and clove-like. Use: Often used to decorate desserts.

Onion

Taste: Similar to very mild green onion. Use: The large decorative flower makes a beautiful garnish in salads.

Nasturtium

Taste: Mild pepper (both leaves and flowers are edible). Use: The colorful flowers are tossed in salads or used as a finishing garnish.

Pineapple Buds

Taste: As expected, a gentle pineapple flavor and aroma. Use: A tiny garnish for small composed bites or sweets.

Radish

Taste: A concentrated spicy bite. Use: To punctuate composed salads or to garnish a flavorful dish.

Society Garlic

Taste: Traditional garlicky flavor and aroma, but milder than garlic cloves or true garlic flowers. Use: This ornamental plant doesn’t grow bulbs, but its flowers add a tasty pop to salads and many earthy dishes.

Szechuan Buzz Buttons

Taste: Herbaceous and slightly bitter. Use: Employed less for flavor and more for the tingly, buzzy sensation they create in the mouth, they also garnish cocktails or flavorful dishes.

Zucchini

Taste: Mild squash flavor. Use: Stuffed, battered and baked, or sliced crosswise and served raw in salads. Yellow squash blossoms make a good substitute.