I've tried them in a salad but I find them too peppery and the flowers are more decorative than delicious. Probably be great if you liked bitter salad greens though.
I haven't tasted them before, but I'm sure I'll get my share this year
Yeah, they draw aphids away from the rest of the garden. This attracts the ladybugs to eat the aphids. That draws the praying mantises that eat other bugs. I've used this trick in my garden the last two years and haven't had a problem with bad insects, even the tomato worms, etc. leave my garden alone.
The leaves hold water in a way that makes it look like a pool of mercury, very fun to play with.
This will be my first time growing them. I tried marigolds and dill last year to attract ladybugs and praying mantises, but I ended up not really having any pests so either the predators stayed hidden or I didn't attract anything at all, except a few cucumber beetles
Plant them with dill nearby.
When I did the two in the same year, the mantises loved my garden so much that I had little baby mantises everywhere.
Hopefully they show up. I was considering buying a mantis egg pod last year since none really showed up at all to play in my marigolds and dill.
I planted them for the flowers and all the other side benefits turned out to be BONUS!
They're pretty delicious too.