I see lots of beautiful cakes made by people first starting out and they might not know which flowers are truly toxic.. I mean for even some people just touching them can make them deathly ill.

Please read this link and print it out for yourself

I have seen an increase in people using hydrangeas on cakes.. and you can tell nothing is inbetween them and the cake... please know these are highly toxic flowers. (Such a shame they are my favs LOL)

Not wanting to cause a ruckus but it was kind of disturbing to see them so close into the icing .. right on top of the icing .


Please know I am just trying to help
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/poisonflowers.html

Christi,

You are not starting a ruckus, you are giving wise advice to people who could otherwise be poisoning, and possibly killing, a person who eats those cakes. You are providing preventative information, and therefore, your conscience is clear.

If they do not wish to listen, at least you have it in writing that they were advised. This not only clears your conscience, but also nobody can say that the people on CC did not warn them, so it clears all of us, too.

Thanks, Christi!

Theresa

Thanks for the info! I've bookmarked it and put it in my cake decorating file for future reference.

Becca

Thank you Theresa

Thank you for that list! I don't use flowers on my cakes, but that doesn't mean I won't get an order for one in the future... it will definately be helpful to have that list!

Thanks again for looking out for our CC family!!!

Thanks for the info. When I use the hydrangeas I only do them in gumpaste. But I am glad to have this info.

Christi,
Thanks for the link! A yahoo group that I subscribe too has a list also and stresses the importance of this. No one should think you are creating a ruckus, as you are just giving well intentioned advice.

PS - was it you that had all that free time to find new stuff to do?

~Jen

LOL yes Jen.. but I had seen several cakes in the last few days that had fresh hydrangeas on them and it just worries me

Thanks for this Christi!!! This is great to have!!! Very important for everyone to know! I am glad someone DID take the time to get this out to us!!! Thank you! I would never have known some of those flowers were POISONOUS.

Jessica

Jessica -

There have been a few threads written on this subject in CC, which are stored in the forums archives.

This is one of those subjects which should be brought up from time to time, as it is one of those subjects which are not often discussed, but offer truly important information.

Theresa

Thanks Theresa! I guess I never thought about it since I do not use fresh flowers other than roses on my cakes. I'm going to look up those forums! I'm on this site all day everyday and there is just SO much info to go through!! lol. You guys are great!

I know that it is just so easy to use the fresh... and you can use fresh but I just think some people think.. "well it's not IN the cake..." Well... no it might not be.. but... if someone is highly allergic all it has to do is get CLOSE to the cake...

There are some REALLY beautiful silk flowers now. And the cost can be passed on to the clientel...

i read somwhere that evensafe flowers should be pesticide free, because even though they are non toxic the pesticides used can make people sick. any one know if this is true..although i figure using the plastic flower picks should be okay..anyone know?

That is very true

There are a few cautions one should remember before harvesting any flowers:

(a) Do not harvest any flowers that could have been exposed to animal excretement.

(b) Do not harvest any flowers that have had insecticides sprayed on them.

(c) Do not harvest any flowers that have had fertilizers sprayed on them unless specified for food consumption.

(d) Do not harvest any flowers from the side of roads where they have been exposed to trash, carbon monoxide etc.

(e) If you are unsure if it is edible, then do not eat it. Caution is always the best policy.

(f) If you have any allergies, consult your physician before consuming edible flowers.

(g) Do not eat any flowers from florists as they have been sprayed with pesticides.

(h) Do not pick any flowers that show signs of disease or have been eaten by insects.

Personally, I would never use fresh flowers on a cake, anyway. There is too much risk with the pollen, which is unavoidable, as few flowers do not pollenate.

Ingestion of pollen by a person who suffers allergies can result in their tongue or trachea closing, causing choking, and possibly death.

Theresa

That is what worries me Theresa .. the pollen .. even if placed on something around the cake... when placing on the cake pollen could get on the cake...

There are beautiful.. and yes they are expensive ... silk flowers that look just like what they are supposed to look like.

I read on at that website and found info I had been looking for a while back on which flowers ARE edible and it even has some recipes for other ways to use flowers in cooking. Great info, thanks a lot for that.

very welcome.. that's what we are here for right?

I hope to use fresh flowers one day, so I purchased on QVC the plastic flower vases that go on cakes that a CC lady here designed. A Great Big Thank you to that lady cuz now I can cover all my mistakes up!

I was looking at the website and it has Gardenia listed on the poisenous list and also on the edible list.

What is up with that?

Could it maybe be a certain type of Gardenia? I dunno

Just curious

Well now darnit I'm confused LMAO

I'm gonna go do some research LOL

Ok read this site also... it has some exceptions with some of the edible flowers and some other great information..

As for the Gardenias... they aren't on this edibles list

http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

Very helpful info!
Jen...

Thank you Jen!!!