Borage

Borage is an easy-going annual that’s as useful as it is beautiful. The star-shaped blue flowers are a magnet for bees and other pollinators, and they’re edible too – lovely scattered over salads, desserts or frozen into ice cubes for summer drinks. The young leaves have a cool, cucumber-like flavour and can be chopped into salads or stirred through homemade mayonnaise.

🌱 Seasonal Growing Guide

SPRING:

Sow singly in pots in a cold frame or greenhouse. Transplant to their final position as soon as they are hardened off and all frost danger is over.

SUMMER:

Sow more seeds! They are quick growing and mature in 5-6 weeks.

AUTUMN:

Dig them up! Do not compost the flower heads or let them run to seed – unless you want a borage forest!!!

ENJOY its uses...

EDIBLE

young summer leaves can be chopped into salads or add to yogurt dip or mayonnaise. Scatter flowers on salads or puds: or freeze in ice cubes for summer drinks.

WILDLIFE FRIENDLY

• Much loved by short-tongued honeybees (Apis mellifera), who flock to the star-shaped blue flowers for easy-access nectar.
• Jersey Tiger Moths (Euplagia quadripunctaria) are known to visit, especially in warmer parts of the UK.
• Also attracts red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) and hoverflies, which help with both pollination and pest control.
• Flowers replenish nectar quickly, so pollinators return again and again throughout the day.