Growing Borage, also Burrage, Bugloss

Borago officinalis : Boraginaceae / the borage family

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

(Best months for growing Borage in USA - Zone 5a 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 50°F and 77°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 8 inches 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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10 May 19, NC (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Want to grow borage through the winter in Hamilton. Successful do you think?
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11 Aug 18, Barbie (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)
We are in Taupo where we get a lot of frosts. Our borage plants are unaffected and just keep on flowering week in week out. In Auckland our borage plants died back in late summer.
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03 Jul 18, Ali babakhanian (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Hi where can I buy borage seed.?
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04 Jul 18, Mike L (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Boondie - New Life Seeds - The Seed Collection Company
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03 Jul 18, Chris (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Green Harvest sells borage seed
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29 Jun 18, Vicky Jacklin (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
I am trying to attract bees to the garden and believe they love Borage. I live in Durban KZN and would like to fill two pots with Borage. Any other suggestions to attract bees to the garden bearing in mind that we have a troop of about 20 monkeys that destroy everything. They have pulled out my dianthus but strangely enough the Violas haven't been touched. I believe that placing a spoon of sugar water in strategic places also attracts bees?
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15 Nov 24, Bee-Pie (South Africa - Humid sub-tropical climate)
Please don't put sugar water out for the birds or the bees. The sugar is sprayed with chemicals and has anti-caking agent in it, amongst other horrible things. This makes the animals very sick and they die.
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17 Nov 24, N8urgirl (USA - Zone 11a climate)
Hummingbirds migrate to my area in October, then leave in April. I have put out a feeder every year for 20 years. What I have learned is not to bother with commercial (store-bought) nectar. The red dye can be bad and I was always concerned about the preservatives and how long the nectar was in the plastic bottle. What I’ve done for the last several years is bought organic CANE sugar only. Mix the sugar with filtered water in a 1 part sugar, 4 parts water ratio. Because I only have one or two hummingbirds (one year, I had five!), I fill the feeder only a quarter of the way. That way, it doesn’t go bad and I don’t waste what’s left when I clean the feeder and put fresh sugar water in it.
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10 Jul 18, John (Australia - temperate climate)
Borage, lavender, rosemary and thyme will attract bees and are not likely to be very attractive to monkeys English lavender bushes aren't as soft as Italian or French lavender so they would be a better choice
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12 Mar 18, Helen Rowe (Australia - tropical climate)
Can I grow Borage in far North Queensland have tried once didn't have too much success
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Showing 21 - 30 of 55 comments
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It's probably aphids --- you didn't give a description -- but aphids LOVE borage. Additionally, ANTS enslave aphids, placing them on borage. Ants can tear the wings off of aphids. A recent study has shown that ants can use semiochemicals to stop the aphids from developing wings and to impede their ability to walk away. Ants farm aphids because they produce honeydew, a sugar-rich material that fulfills the nutritional requirement of ants. Your best course of action is to: Support the plant with one hand, and use a blast of water from a watering hose to wash the aphids off the plants. You need to take action immediately as the aphids are feeding on your plants. If the aphids are on a fruit/veggie bearing plant their feeding impedes the ability of the plant to produce nice fruits since its energies are being used to battle the aphids (or their energy is being sucked up by the aphids). Your aphid situation will MOST LIKELY GET WORSE is you ignore it... they multiple pretty quickly.

- Celeste Archer

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