Borage

Borago officinalis Borage — the edible blue starflower and the ultimate bee magnet

If you grow one plant for the bees, grow borage. This cheerful Mediterranean annual produces a long, generous succession of vivid, true-blue, star-shaped flowers from June right through to October — and it refills those flowers with nectar at such a remarkable rate that it's reckoned among the most valuable bee forage plants you can grow. On a warm summer day a borage plant fairly hums; it carries the RHS Plants for Pollinators award, and once you've grown it you'll understand exactly why.

It's as useful in the kitchen as it is in the border. Both the flowers and the young leaves carry a fresh, clean, distinctly cucumber flavour, and the electric-blue star flowers are one of the loveliest edible garnishes there is — floated in a glass of Pimm's or summer punch, frozen into ice cubes, scattered over salads and soft cheeses, or candied for cakes. The flowers even perform a small piece of natural magic: they open pink and turn blue, so a single plant carries both shades at once.

Borage is a true cottage-garden plant — informal, generous, and faintly old-fashioned in the best way. It forms a sturdy, branching plant of 60–90cm clothed in soft, silvery, bristly grey-green leaves, topped all summer with those nodding sprays of blue. It self-seeds happily once established, so a single sowing often gives you borage for years to come, popping up cheerfully wherever it pleases.

Best of all, it could hardly be easier to grow. Borage actively prefers poor soil and full sun, asks for almost nothing, and grows quickly from a direct sowing — one of the most rewarding plants for a beginner, a child's first patch, or anyone who wants maximum life and colour for minimum fuss.

A note on growing

Borage is happiest sown directly where it is to grow, which suits its long taproot — it dislikes being transplanted once it's any size. Sow from March to May (and on into early summer for a later succession) straight into well-drained soil in a sunny spot, scattering or station-sowing the seed about 1cm deep and thinning the seedlings to around 35cm apart. It germinates quickly and reliably, usually within 1–2 weeks. If you prefer to start under cover, sow into deep modules or root-trainers and plant out while still small, before the taproot is disturbed.

It genuinely thrives on neglect. Poor, even stony soil is fine — rich soil simply produces lush leaf at the expense of flower — and once established it's notably drought-tolerant. Give it full sun and a little room to branch out. Taller plants on exposed sites may flop and appreciate a discreet support, but in a typical cottage border it holds itself up among its neighbours. Deadheading prolongs the display, though leaving some flowers to set seed is what gives you that welcome crop of self-sown seedlings the following year.

Pick the flowers and young leaves as you need them through the summer. The young leaves are best for eating — older leaves grow coarse and very bristly — and the flowers are at their best picked fresh on the day. Borage is an annual, completing its whole generous life in a single season, but between its long flowering and its free self-seeding, it has a way of becoming a permanent and much-loved fixture.

Where it shines

In the garden, borage is first and foremost a gift to wildlife: bees of every kind, hoverflies, and butterflies work its flowers tirelessly from midsummer on, making it one of the best possible additions to a pollinator border, a wildlife garden, or a vegetable patch where you want to draw in pollinating insects. It's a classic companion plant, traditionally grown beside strawberries, tomatoes, courgettes, and beans, where its flowers pull in pollinators and its presence is said to improve the vigour and flavour of its neighbours.

In the kitchen and at the table, the cucumber-flavoured flowers and young leaves bring summer to a glass or a plate. Float the blue stars in Pimm's, lemonade, gin and tonic, or a summer cup; freeze them whole into ice cubes for a showstopping touch; scatter them over salads, dips, and soft cheeses; or candy them to decorate cakes and puddings. The young leaves can be chopped into salads, yoghurt, and cream cheese, or added to a jug of cool summer drink for a fresh cucumber note.

At a glance

• Type: hardy annual herb, freely self-seeding
• RHS Plants for Pollinators: one of the very best bee forage plants you can grow
• Flowers: vivid true-blue edible stars (opening pink), June to October
• Flavour: fresh, clean cucumber — flowers and young leaves both edible
• Plant: sturdy and branching, 60–90cm tall, 40cm spread
• Sow: March to May, direct where it's to grow (dislikes transplanting)
• Loves: poor soil and full sun — thrives on neglect, drought-tolerant
• Easy to grow: ideal for beginners, children, and wildlife gardens

Plant alongside

Borage is one of the great companion plants. It's traditionally grown among strawberries, tomatoes, courgettes, squash, and beans, where its nectar-rich flowers draw in the pollinators those crops depend on. In an ornamental setting its informal blue suits any cottage border and sits beautifully with calendula, cornflowers, and other easy annuals, and it's a natural choice for a dedicated pollinator or wildlife planting. Wherever you put it, the bees will find it.