There are a number of edible flowers already growing in most gardens that will help you easily make a meal special. They include tulips, violets, impatiens and roses. We plant nasturtiums every year because we love not only their hardy hot weather character but they have a wonderful nutty flavor. Lovely to look at, too!

You'll Need: 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 2 tsp Champagne vinegar; 3 TBSP olive oil; Salt and pepper to taste; 6 - 8 oz. mixed greens; 2-3 oz. edible nasturtium leaves and flowers (that haven't been sprayed with insecticide)

To Make: Whisk mustard, vinegar, oil and salt and pepper until well blended. Add greens and nasturtium leaves and flowers. Toss. Serve with homemade bread or muffins. Great to take in a quilted gift bag as housewarming gift and to a neighborhood picnic and barbecue!

We didn't grow impatiens for years thinking they were hard to grow and were we wrong!

Impatiens are not only edible but the easily grow in medium to all but the heaviest shade, look fabulous in mass plantings, are easy to propagate and don't require much care other than well drained moist soil and water.

Impatiens also make excellent potted plants and will easily adapt to a variety of garden decor containers (photo).

To propagate cut stems with one node per stem and insert in moist soil. Water. You'll have new starts within 1-2 weeks. We've also found impatiens winter over nicely if you bring them indoors before first frost.

And they're edible so you can use them to garnish salads and other dishes!

No time to plant anything? Check your shady garden for wild violets (photo) which are often moved by birds and self-seeding.

The small, long-stemmed flowers are high in Vitamin C, delicious in salads and look lovely as a quick garnish.