Borage

Borage: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Loose annual, 40–80 cm tall and 30–45 cm wide, with hollow, hairy stems.

Leaf

Large, oval and rough, up to 15 cm long, covered in stiff hairs.

Flower

Star-shaped, about 2 cm across, nodding in loose clusters, with a small black cone of stamens in the centre.

Colour

Bright sky blue; the buds are pink. There is also a white form.

Roots

A taproot, which is why it transplants poorly.

Flowering: June–September · Harvest and fruit: May–September · Sowing: April–June

Why grow it?

• A top plant for bees and bumblebees, from June until the first frost.
• Edible blue flowers for salads, ice cubes and desserts.
• Young leaves with a fresh cucumber flavour.
• Child’s play: sow it where it is to grow, and after that it often self-seeds.
• Brings pollinators to the vegetable garden, near strawberries, courgettes and squash.

Borage: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; it flowers best in sun.
• Any ordinary garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Moderately moist; rich, wet soil gives floppy plants.
• Preferably somewhat sheltered from wind, as the heavy plants topple easily.
• Allow 30–40 cm between plants.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

0.6 m tall, 0.4 m wide

Hardiness

Half hardy (to -5 °C): protect it in harsh winters

Goes well with

• Strawberry: A classic neighbour in the vegetable garden: the bees on the borage also visit the strawberries.
• Courgette: Draws pollinators to the vegetable garden, which can help fruit set.
• Pot marigold: Orange and blue: a cheerful, edible pair in the vegetable garden.
• Phacelia: Another bee magnet that is just as easy to sow in place.

Borage: when and how to plant it?

1. Sow where it is to grow from April to June; its taproot makes it dislike transplanting.
2. Loosen the soil and rake it fine; no extra fertiliser is needed.
3. Sow the large seeds 1–2 cm deep, in small groups or in rows 40 cm apart.
4. Keep the soil moist until the seedlings appear, after one or two weeks.
5. Thin the seedlings to 30–40 cm apart.
6. Sow again in June for flowers until the first frost.

Care

Water

Only in prolonged drought. Too much water and fertiliser give floppy plants.

Feeding

Not needed in ordinary garden soil.

Support

In a windy spot or after heavy rain it flops; a few twiggy sticks or a string around the group helps.

Harvesting

Pick the flowers in the morning when just open, and the leaves young, before flowering.

Self-seeding

Let a few plants set seed if you want borage again next year; simply weed out surplus seedlings.

Tip: Sow in April and again in June: you will then have flowers from June until the first frost, for the bees and for the kitchen.

Borage: when to prune it?

When: Borage is not really pruned. You can, however, cut out untidy, faded stems.

How:

• Cut out faded or collapsed stems to keep the plant tidy.
• If you want fewer seedlings, remove the faded flower clusters before the seed ripens.
• Pull the plant up after the first frost and put it on the compost heap.

Caution: Wear gloves: the stiff hairs on the leaves and stems can irritate the skin.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

From April to June where it is to grow, 1–2 cm deep. The seed germinates readily in warm soil.

Self-seeding

Let a few plants finish flowering; the seedlings come up by themselves the following spring. Move them while young, with a good root ball.

Borage: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −5 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Borage is an annual: the plant dies after the first hard frost.
• The seed overwinters in the soil and germinates in spring.
• Seedlings from late summer sometimes survive a mild winter and then flower early.

Diseases and pests

• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in late summer. It comes with the end of the season; pull up badly affected plants.
• Flopping: Tall, heavy plants collapse after rain or wind. Do not sow too densely and give some support.
• Aphids: Blackfly on the tips. Hose them off; ladybirds clear them up.
• Slugs: They eat young seedlings. Pick them off in the evening.
• Too many seedlings: It self-seeds freely. Weed out surplus seedlings while small or remove faded flower clusters.

Through the year

• April: Sow where it is to grow, 1–2 cm deep.
• May: Sow. Thin seedlings to 30–40 cm.
• June: Last sowing. Flowering begins. Pick flowers.
• July: Flowering. Harvest flowers and young leaves. Support if it flops.
• August: Flowering. Water in prolonged drought.
• September: Last flowers. Let a few plants set seed.
• October: Clear dead plants after the first frost.

Edible and useful

Flowers (June–September)

Pick the sky-blue star flowers from June to September as soon as they open. Pull them gently out of the hairy calyx: the flower comes away with its black centre. They taste sweet and fresh, like cucumber, and look lovely on salads, in ice cubes, on cakes and in a glass of lemonade or Pimm’s.

Leaves (May–July)

From May to July, a small amount of the young, still soft leaves can be finely chopped into a salad, soft cheese or green sauce; they taste of cucumber. Older leaves are rough and covered in prickly hairs.

Storing

The flowers are best fresh: pick them just before use, or keep them for a few hours in a box with a damp piece of kitchen paper in the fridge. Frozen in ice cubes they keep for months. Drying borage is not worth it: the flavour disappears.

Caution: All parts of borage, and the leaves in particular, contain small amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can damage the liver with prolonged use. A few flowers as decoration are no problem, but eat the leaves only occasionally and in small amounts, and not during pregnancy or breastfeeding or for young children. Do not confuse young borage with comfrey or foxglove (which is very poisonous): borage is recognised by its prickly hairs, its smell of cucumber and its blue star-shaped flowers.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Borage flower ice cubes (Other · ± 24 ice cubes · 10 min + 4 hrs freezing)
• Cucumber salad with borage (Dish · 4 people · 15 min)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The buds are pink and turn blue as the flower opens.
• Borage belongs to the same family as comfrey and forget-me-not, which also have rough hairs.
• The flowers hang downwards; bees cling upside down beneath them to reach the nectar.