Category Archives: Our Eclectic Patch

My journey over the past 23 years as a Brisbane based horticulturalist has been full of gardening bloopers and outstanding successes. Our Eclectic Patch is all about the varying aspects of our patch of garden on 1.7ac along with a look back at some stories from our previous experiences.

On Gardening Australia.

My Garden as featured on Gardening Australia August 1st 2025.

Well it’s been about 10 months since filming and it’s finally airing, our segment on the ABC’s Gardening Australia.

We had the best fun with Costa over the two days of filming and hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it.

My garden is situated in Brisbane Qld Australia on a block that is around 1.7 acres. 

The climate is subtropical but boy we’ve had some dry spells over the 12 years that we have lived here.

Being virtually on the top of a hill we get sun from the east and the west, plus all the prevailing winds… and the soil, don’t ask.

It’s a terrible mix of shale and rocky schist. This had equated to years of adding copious amounts of organic matter and a sea of trial and error planting.

When people ask, what style of garden do I have, my quick response is “Claire style’ lol….. meaning eclectic.

It’s a mix of all the plants and gardening passions I love. Australia natives, mixed with cottage perennials, flowering aloes and succulents, 

with edibles galore consisting of fruiting trees, veggies, herbs and of course chooks. All with a twist of my permaculture background, love of garden art, majestic trees and creation of garden nooks and ponds.

 I hope you enjoy a peek into our little green haven that brings myself, husband and three children so much joy over the years and continues to do so.

Watch the episode on ABC iView at: https://iview.abc.net.au/video/RF2405V023S00

Edible Flower Shortbread Biscuits

So this Easter I decided we’d change it up a bit in the kitchen and pop our aprons on and do a bit of baking but not before we donned our hats and secateurs and went outside for a stroll around the garden to collect some ssential ingredients.

Edible flowers in the subtropics
Organic fresh edible flowers ready to use.

Flowers that were edible is what we were looking.
We found;
Pineapple sage, roses, basil flowers, rosemary, chillies, pentas, clitoria blue pea, zinnia, dahlia, salvia, lavender, marigolds, sunflower petals and more.
Now that we are coming into autumn we’ll be planting calendulas, violas, pansies, cornflowers, for more edible flower variety.

Zinnia edible flower
Zinnas and Sunflower

Sunflower edible flower and seeds

 

As requested by popular demand via my facebook gardening page.
Below is the process on how to create these floral delights.

Step1:
Flower collection

Edible flowers from our garden
Collecting edible flowers from our garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2:
Basic shortbread recipe:
Ingredients:
60g unsalted butter – softened
30g icing sugar
100g plain flour
edible flowers
egg white
Note: I double the recipe to make a bigger batch of biscuits.

Method:
1. Cream the butter until smooth. Add in icing sugar and mix until well incorporated.
2. Add flour and mix well.
3. Roll the dough into a cylinder and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30min.
4. Whilst the dough is cooling. Place the edible flowers of choice onto a sheet of baking paper, cover with another sheet of baking paper and the place something heavy on top (I used books) to flatten the flowers.

pressing edible flowers
Edible flowers laid out on baking paper to be pressed

5. Take dough out after 30minutes and slice into 7mm discs.
Place the cookies onto baking paper on  a baking tray.

Edible flowers being attached to biscuits with egg white
Flowers being stuck to biscuits with egg white.

    6. Brush egg white onto cookie surface. Place edible flower on top.
7. Pour egg white on top of the flower and press down gently with the back of a spoon. Repeat with all biscuits.

 

8. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 170 degreesC.
9. Eat 🙂

Edible flower shortbread biscuits ready to eat.
Edible flower shortbread biscuits ready to eat.

All the excess flowers we had picked I just popped into a plastic container and popped them in the fridge. They should last a few days in there, until I make another batch.

Banana Bounty – Flower Salad

What to do with the Glut?
Pt 2. The prequel.

If you think ahead there won’t be a glut.
There can’t be banana fruit if you eat the flowers first.

Of course the problem there is that you can take the flower off after fruit has set!

But seriously, have you ever thought about eating banana flowers? Continue reading Banana Bounty – Flower Salad