A fresh crop of plants can be planted in late summer for bloom in autumn. Our Garden Planner can produce a personalised calendar of when to sow, plant and harvest for your area. Borage seedlings are only edible when very young. Large plants produce edible, starry blue flowers that attract bees in droves.
When do borage flower?
In the summer months, borage plants bloom with small, beautiful, blue flowers that attract pollinators and butterflies to your garden. The plants have hairy, rough leaves that measure four to six inches in length. Don’t be surprised if your plant spreads out; one borage plant reaches 12-18 inches wide.
In warmer climes it may even bloom almost continuously for most of the year. Borage is native to the Mediterranean region and has naturalized elsewhere. It grows very well in gardens across Europe and is also common in kitchen gardens across North America. The plant is hairy all over its stems and leaves.
What do you do with borage after it blooms?
Remove faded flower heads from borage plants to encourage more blooms to form. Once flowering has finished, simply dig up and compost borage plants – the mineral-rich leaves will help fertilise soils the following year. Do take off the seed heads before composting plants or you’ll end up with lots of borage seedlings all over the garden.
So, what time of year do bees like borage?
Pretty star-shaped pure blue flowers are borne from early summer though to autumn, on spreading bushy plants 60cm high. Bees love borage and the blooms are some of their favourite flowers .
You should be wondering “Is borage an annual or perennial?”
The best answer is type of plant: Borage is a warm-season annual herb ; however, sometimes flowers do not appear until the second year—making borage a sometimes biennial. Growing zones: Grow borage in zones 3 to 10. Hardiness: Borage tolerates heat and cool weather but will not survive a hard frost.
Does borage grow in winter?
Container growing: Borage grows easily in containers. Choose a container 12 inches deep and wide or larger; borage forms a taproot. Winter growing: Borage is an annual that will die back in freezing weather. In mild-winter regions, borage may survive the winter to flower again next summer.
You should be thinking “Can borage grow in full sun?”
This is what our research found. however, growing borage plants in full sun will give you the best chance at a plant with lots of blooms and stocky stems. Borage can thrive even in dry, nutrient-poor soils . However, it prefers a moderately moist, well-drained soil.
The next thing we wondered was does borage die in the winter?
Borage is a hardy annual, which means that the plant will die in a frost, but the seeds can survive in the frozen ground. This is good news for borage, as it produces a huge amount of seed in the fall. The seed falls to the ground and the plant dies, but in the spring new borage plants emerge to take its place.
How do you grow borage in pots?
Although borage isn’t ideal for growing in containers, if this is the only option, then choose a large pot (at least 25 cm deep and over 30 cm wide), filled two-thirds with peat-free, general-purpose potting compost and one third coarse grit. Sow borage seed from mid spring, after the last frosts.
If planting multiple rows, allow 12 to 18 inches of space between seeds. Water the planting area regularly to establish the seedlings., and succession plant. Prolong your growing season by staggering your plantings and sowing borage seeds every few weeks .