I'm taking a short break. Quick question....
I started growing borage 3 years ago. Started seeds in early spring and put the plants out late spring. They grew really well at first, made lots of flowers which mostly never bloomed. Then the temps went into the 100s and they just wanted to die but didn't. They barely survived the winter, came back and then last year they did only slightly better. I just figured they would never thrive here in my heat. I win some and I lose some.

But into last fall they took off, grew big and had lots of flowers which still didn't open. So.... this past winter they stayed evergreen (what a surprise!) and grew even bigger. They are now in several places in my garden. They are thriving and happy and covered in tons of flowers which just won't open and bloom.

Do any of you have borage and can you tell me the secret to find their 'happy place'? It's now headed into the 80s this week and will soon hit 100. If they're ever going to bloom I would think it's now or never. I would think. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Happy Gardening

Some of them are blooming. HOW EARLY do you get out into the garden? Mine bloom and close as soon as they are pollinated - early morning. When I get them to grow at all.

It's so nice of you to reply. I'm eating lunch and it feels so good to sit down. I'm out in my garden from sunup (now around 6:45 a.m.) until dark every day. In fact it's my planting season so I'm out until it's totally dark and they just look like that each day every day. I planted them because I thought they would attract pollinators but I've never seen a bee or bug anywhere near them.

I see some blue on your first and last photo. They bloom in stages and I can't recall if all the blooms actually open over time.


Mine self seed quite well and depending on where they land, it can look quite lush like my photo below where they get partial shade or they can be scraggly in poor soil and full sun. They all get pulled by early summer.

I don't usually get any bees til summer is hot. Yeah, I am happy if mine last til July here. Our storm just hit and I have rain pouring down, still drying off, maybe a bit of shade for them?

Thank you both so much for your replies. I'm just kind of bummed because I've been watching and fussing over them for 3 years now and getting my hopes up that I could finally see them bloom in all their glory. And they're such a pretty blue and I don't have much blue in my yard. But it's not as bad as the year I spent all summer watering these plants that got huge and thrived and then realized they were weeds! But I will check on them first thing every morning and maybe I'll be surprised.
Thank you.

Maybe it just doesn't like that much heat? It grows like crazy for me and self sows to the point of almost being a weed... and I never realized how much it looks like the "Little Shop of Horrors" plant until I was trying to photograph bees in it!

Sandy, your photo is beautiful! And gosh I wish I had weeds that looked like that.

I have some maypops (blue passion vines) in the yard. Their flowers only open in late afternoon and will die by morning so there is only a short window to enjoy them. And it's usually just one here and one there at a time. They don't all bloom at once so it's hard to even notice them. So I was wondering if borage might be similar or if there could be some secret sauce to convince them to let loose and put on a show.

I think Kat had the right answer. When I looked first thing this morning about a dozen flowers were open (a dozen out of hundreds) and the bees were enjoying them! So they might be a lot like the maypops. But boy were they pretty.

Well, it's been in the 50s and 60s these last 3 weeks. We call that spring here. It will be in the 80s this week and probably the 100s by next week so here comes summer. The borage will probably die down soon but I'm glad I got to enjoy them while they're here.

And thank you all for teaching me something. Happy gardening.