The evening primrose, which originally comes from South America, has been cultivated in Europe since the 17th century and not only impresses in the garden with its lush and colorful flowers. The edible flowers of the common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) can also be used in both cooking and medicine.
What can you do with evening primrose flowers?
Evening primrose flowers are edible and versatile: They can decorate salads, soups and desserts, taste sweet and spicy and harmonize with nasturtium and borage. They can also be turned into a cough syrup.
Versatile evening primrose flowers
Evening primrose flowers are wonderful for decorating colorful salads, soups or desserts. They taste slightly sweet to spicy and harmonize particularly well with the red flowers of nasturtium or the blue flowers of borage - try it out! You can also use the flowers to make a long-lasting syrup that is used in natural medicine to treat coughs.
Recipe for evening primrose flower cough syrup
- Pour 250 milliliters of hot water over two handfuls of freshly picked evening primrose flowers.
- However, this is not allowed to cook.
- Let the brew steep for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make a sugar solution.
- Boil water and sugar in a 1:1 ratio until the sugar has dissolved.
- Strain the broth and measure it.
- Mix the broth and sugar solution in a ratio of 1:1.
- The syrup lasts for several months in the refrigerator and can also be frozen.
Tip
The roots of the evening primrose can also be prepared as a vegetable like salsify, but only in the first winter.