💙 Borage

Borage is a rugged, hairy annual that produces a haze of bright blue, star-shaped flowers from June until the first frost, and it is one of the best plants for bees. The flowers taste of cucumber and are edible, as are the young leaves.

It is superb alongside strawberries and tomatoes, where it attracts pollinators and may improve fruit set. It self-seeds so reliably that one sowing gives plants for years. It can grow large and sprawling, so give it space at the back of a bed.

Varieties to try

Common borage (blue flowers)Alba (white-flowered)Variegata (cream-splashed leaves)

Sow seeds directly outdoors from April to June, 1 cm deep, in a sunny spot in any soil, including poor soil. Thin seedlings to 45 cm apart, since plants grow big. Borage has a long taproot and dislikes being moved, so sow where it will grow.

Seedlings appear in 1–2 weeks. Sow a second batch in mid-summer for a longer flowering season. Borage can be grown in large pots (30 cm or more), but plants grow best in the ground.

Top tips

• Sow where it will grow.
• Thin to 45 cm.
• Sow in succession for longer flowers.
• Plant next to strawberries.

Borage needs almost no care. Water in a prolonged drought, but avoid feeding. Support taller plants with twiggy sticks or canes if windy. The stems and leaves have bristly hairs, so wear gloves when handling.

Deadhead to extend flowering, or leave the seed to self-sow. Powdery mildew may occur in late summer. Plants can be cut hard back if they get untidy, and they will regrow. Pull out unwanted seedlings in spring.

Top tips

• Wear gloves; it’s bristly.
• Deadhead for longer flowering.
• Pull unwanted seedlings.
• Support in windy sites.

Watch out for

Powdery mildewAphidsSlugs on young plantsSelf-seeding everywhere

Pick the flowers in the morning once fully open, pulling them gently from the green calyx. Pick young leaves when small and tender, before the hairs coarsen. Flowers are produced continuously from June to October.

Use flowers fresh, as they wilt within hours. Leave plenty of flowers for the bees, who love them. Young leaves are best before flowering.

Top tips

• Pick open flowers by hand.
• Take young leaves only.
• Use flowers on the day.
• Leave plenty for the bees.

Scatter the flowers on salads, desserts, cakes and cheese, or float them in drinks such as Pimm’s and gin and tonic; freeze them in ice cubes for pretty drinks. Young leaves taste of cucumber and can be chopped finely in salads and cream cheese, or cooked like spinach.

Flowers are best used immediately but keep for a day in the fridge. Candy them with egg white and sugar for decorating cakes, which preserves them for several weeks. Freeze in ice cubes for summer drinks.

Top tips

• Freeze flowers in ice cubes.
• Candy flowers for cakes.
• Chop young leaves into salads.
• Add to Pimm’s.