BORAGE
- Borage has to be one of my favourite plants in the garden, however, be warned, it will set seed and those seeds will germinate year after year. Before you know it you can end up with a garden full of borage.
- It has a beautiful light blue flower which will attract beneficial insects to the garden, especially bees.
- Borage contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA) which it has been argued may have anti-inflammatory properties. You may have seen this sold in stores as starflower oil.
Sowing and Growing
- Borage really does not respond well to being transplanted due to its very large tap root. As a result, we always sow directly where you plan on growing from mid spring to mid-summer.
-If you have to transplant make sure to keep root disturbance minimal.
- Borage gets quite large, the plants can grow to 100cm high and 50cm wide, so make sure you are planting where you have plenty of room.
- Borage will grow rampant in moist, good drainage soil and will prefer full sun, but can tolerate part shade and poor soil. It is fantastic to plug holes in your garden where nothing else wants to grow.
- I recommend supporting the plant with canes to stop the stems flopping and breaking.
- Make sure to deadhead the plant to keep it healthy.
Harvest
- With Borage we use the flowers, hence the name starflower in the stores.
-The flowers can be blue, white and pink, but most usually blue.
-They can be used as a garnish, frozen in ice cubes or even crystallised into sweets. They are fantastic in ice cubes with a gin and tonic!
-The leaves are edible as well and have a fantastic flavour very similar to cucumbers. Personally I love to chop them up and enjoy in a salad
- Harvest for the best results in early summer as the flowers have just started to show.