Borage
Herbs
Borago officinalis, Bee plant, Star flower
Borage is an annual herb with beautiful star shaped blue or white edible flowers. We used to put them in ice cubes when we were kids and they made a glass of lemonade all the more enjoyable as the cubes melted and released their perfect treasures. Not only small children are fans of these flowers – bees literally make a ‘bee line’ for them, relishing in their nectar. For this reason alone we should all plant borage, anything that encourages and nourishes bees in our gardens is a ‘must’ as we need bees to pollinate our fruit and vegetables. Borage has coarse hairy leaves that are used to make a herbal tea. Borage grows to around knee height. This is a very successful self-seeding plant and it will undoubtedly make itself at home in your garden once you have planted it! The good news for those wanting to keep it under control is that the young seedlings are easy to pull up wherever they are not wanted.
In a nutshell
- Sun/part shade
- Poor dry soil
- Sow from seed
- Companion plant
- Blue flowers attract bees
Quantity
1 plant per household
Companions
- Tomatoes
- Strawberries
- Squash
The growing lifecycle
Borage seedlings crowding a small container
A Borage seedling planted out in the garden
Self-seeded borage plants in a small cluster
Borage in flower
Beautiful blue Borage flowers
A bee enjoying the nectar of a white Borage flower
Borage growing happily and bursting into flower
Getting started
When
Sow or plant in early spring and summer countrywide.
Where
Borage grows well in full sun as well as partial shade.
Soil
Borage likes a dry, free-draining soil without too much organic material in it. If your soil is sticky then dig in coarse sand or fine pumice to help improve drainage – or plant in a half-barrel or large pot.
Sow & plant
Sow
In early spring, sow seeds a finger-tip deep in trays or punnets filled with seed compost or directly into the garden or proposed container. Thin seedlings as they develop so that plants end up with about two hands’ lengths between them.
Plant
When your seedlings are about a finger’s length in height and the weather has settled and is reliably warm and sunny, plant seedlings at an average spacing of a good hand’s length to a forearm apart.
Maintain
Water young seedlings in dry periods. Once they are established and starting to grow you shouldn’t need to continue with watering.
Harvest or pick
Pick young leaves to liven up a salad with their fresh cucumber taste or steep in boiling water for a cup of tea. Flowers can also be eaten in salads as well as frozen in ice cubes for fun and decoration.
As an annual, borage will die at the onset of winter. Allowing it to flower and self-seed means you’ll be rewarded with a range of plants in all sorts of unexpected parts of your garden next spring and summer.
