Borage : A stunning bee attracting plant
It’s raining here today in the garden, the end of April 2020. Ballarat has started to experience colder weather of late and Winter feels like it is well and truly on it’s way. One of the glorious things about the garden though at the moment is the borage, Borago officinalis. The stunning, bee attracting bright blue flowers are everywhere in the garden, having grown there from seeds from the previous plant,. It’s seeds which have scattered through out the garden beds with the wind. This plant is definitely one of my favourites and I hope to enjoy it in the garden for years to come.
The borage has self seeded so easily
We have so many borage plants due to it self seeding. Each blue flower creates a delicate seed pod, and over time small, long black seeds appear and effortlessly fall from the pod. I do my best to collect the seeds by hand, knowing how easily they will germinate and grow, self seeding wherever they fall. I watch the flowers change to a pod, then opening slightly to reveal the green seeds which turn black once ready to fall.
The flowers are bee attracting and edible
The flowers grow a form a pink star shape, the pink turning to shades of blues and purples. The bees of course love blue and purple flowers so they are often seen buzzing around the garden, a welcomed sight, that is for sure. We also use the flowers as garnishes to dishes, frozen within ice blocks for drinks and can be sugar coated for desserts. I also sell these by the punnet to a local vegetarian restaurant in town. They look stunning on the plate, as a pop of colour. They have a delicate almost cucumber like flavour, lovely to eat, with the soft petals and the texture of a small flower. These seeds feature in my bee mix seed packet as well as a stand alone pack. Once you grow borage you too can collect the seeds or let them do their thing.
Growing borage
The best way to grown borage is sowing seeds after frosts in a sunny spot. It can grow up to 85 cm high and give you a stunning display of top heavy flowers! It seems to be in our garden all year round, which is a pleasant way to naturally repel pests and is a fabulous companion to most plants. If you haven’t tried borage then give this gorgeous plant a go.