Exposure Full-sun to partial shade
Season Cool season
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Large, fuzzy, cucumber-scented leaves and vivid blue flowers attract bees all summer long. Usually grown for the bees and flowers, young leaves can be cooked like spinach or used in salads. Also known as the star flower because of the arrangement of its petals, the flowers have a light cucumber flavour and will stun with their vivid blue petals. A dramatic use is to make ice cubes with the petals frozen into them and drop into cold drinks. Borage seeds contain oils with the highest concentration (20% to 30%) of the fatty acid GLA, even higher than Evening Primrose. Altogether a versatile, attractive and useful herb, add starry blue flowers to salads, drinks, berry desserts for visual appeal. Borage may self sow. It is attractive to bumblebees that must buzz at a certain resonance to release a jet of pollen.
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Latin
Latin
Borago officinalis
Family: Boraginaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Easy
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Cool season
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Timing
Timing
Direct sow in mid- to late spring. Borage develops a delicate taproot, so it’s best direct sown where it is to grow. Borage does not transplant well. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 21°C (70°F). Seeds should sprout in 5-15 days.
Starting
Starting
Sow seeds 1cm (½”) deep, and thin to 60cm (24″) apart. Borage will get large and fill in spaces between plants.
Growing
Growing
Borage is an un-fussy, self-sowing annual. To avoid self-sowing, the flower heads need to be picked regularly. Borage does best in full sun in well drained soil.
Harvest
Harvest
Pick fresh flowers for freezing or drying for bouquets. Cut the fresh leaves during the summer to add to salads or spreads.
Seed Info
Seed Info
Usual seed life: 3 years.
Companion Planting
Companion Planting
Borage is an excellent all around companion plant. Borage deters hornworm and cabbage worms, and is particularly useful planted near tomatoes and strawberries. Very attractive to pollinators and excellent for the soil and compost. Borage is deer-proof.
More on Companion Planting.
West Coast Seeds is a family-owned company that embraces an organic lifestyle. A group of imagination catalysts and passionate educators, dedicated to producing products and services that better the environment. As part of our mission to repair the earth, we aim to inspire and empower people to take responsibility for the state of the planet. For us, organic is about much more than saying no to chemicals, it is about saying yes to building a healthy soil for the future.
For over 35 years, we have upheld our strong reputation as a leading seed supplier, seeking out the highest quality untreated seeds for organic growing and putting them through rigorous independent testing. We built our company on the exchange of generational wisdom in a masterclass community of newbies and masters alike. Our world may have changed, but our commitment to our people, our customers, and our planet has not.
We’re a values-based business that has blossomed into a lifestyle ethos, with products that support seeders, feeders, keepers, and the tiniest of creepers. Our mission? To mobilize the next generation of gardeners with products that nourish soil and grow vigorous, sustainable gardens. We believe all plants should be grown without the use of chemicals, and that the seeds we supply are an important component of regenerative gardening.
We don’t just offer seeds, we offer experience, insight, and understanding. From timeless garden wisdom to new tech know-how, this is learning on the job: knowledge gleaned not from the pages of a book but from burying our fingers in the soil. We test, experiment, observe and adapt, never happier than when we get to share what we’ve learned with others.
Gardens don’t just grow seeds. They grow minds and imaginations, people and communities. Our vision encompasses both the micro and the macro. We eat locally, protect pollinators, teach people to grow from seed, and support regional biodiversity. We think big but act small and deliver unexpected impact — always with community and purpose.
At West Coast Seeds we believe in the power of small and that little can be large. Like the tiniest seed germinates to evoke incremental change with massive potential, so to can our community of gardeners and growers together. Gardeners are the earth’s stewards, planting seeds of creative declaration. The soil provides the canvas, we provide the seeds.
Direct sow in mid- to late spring. Borage develops a delicate taproot, so it’s best direct sown where it is to grow. Borage does not transplant well. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 21°C (70°F). Seeds should sprout in 5-15 days.
Sow seeds 1cm (½”) deep, and thin to 60cm (24″) apart. Borage will get large and fill in spaces between plants.
Borage is an un-fussy, self-sowing annual. To avoid self-sowing, the flower heads need to be picked regularly. Borage does best in full sun in well drained soil.
Usual seed life: 3 years.
Pick fresh flowers for freezing or drying for bouquets. Cut the fresh leaves during the summer to add to salads or spreads.
