Growing Borage, also Burrage, Bugloss

Borago officinalis : Boraginaceae / the borage family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                    P P

(Best months for growing Borage in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 25°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 20 cm apart
  • Harvest in 8-10 weeks. Use leaves before flowers appear, otherwise they will be 'hairy'. .
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Strawberry, tomatoes, zucchini/squash. Deters pests from many plants.

Your comments and tips

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24 Feb 11, Dominique Chanovre (Australia - temperate climate)
Borage is a dynamic accumulator, it is great at absorbing nutrients from the soil. So you pull up the plant, soak in water and make a tea which you use on your plants as a fertiliser. The flowers are also edible.
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09 Aug 11, Graham (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Very interesting Dominique. Do you know of any other uses for Borage?
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23 Feb 11, (Australia - temperate climate)
I have heaps of self-sown borage. It looks very pretty, but has anyone found a use for it?
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24 Feb 11, borage back at ya (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
If the borage has flowers still (mine was dying off a while ago), you can pick them. You can use many of them by using them in salads. Or you could use as a garnish. (The flowers are totally edible by the way.) When I was a kid, if we had special drinks or made a big bowl of punch, we would always put borage flowers in to pretty it up. An effective way to pick them is to pluck the flower by the black stamens/spikes. This way the flower comes away easily and leaves behind in green part of the plant. :)
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11 Jan 11, Marlene (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Borage has self sown all over the garden however all the plants are thin and straggly and look very different to the vigerous and beautiful parent plants. Does anyone know why this would happen?
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