I love Borage! in Borage for Courage

By wildflowers
June 10, 2010

This beautiful plant is said to bring courage to the heart and drive away all sadness. And that's just the beginning of all the lovely virtues of this herb. Borage is also a great companion to some of your garden favorites. Bees love the nectar rich flowers. I like to add the vibrant blue flowers to salads but they are also great candied for desserts or fresh in beverages. You can make your own flowery ice cubes with your garden edibles, there are easy instructions at the end of this article.

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Patti1957

Jun 10, 2010 8:55 AM CST

I love this herb also! The blossoms are so pretty and the bees love it. Have you grown the white flowered one? I have some seed and I am going to give it a try, I think that the white and blue together will look very nice.. Thanks for the article

| Quote | Post #54124 (1)

wildflowers

Jun 10, 2010 9:19 AM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Thank you Patti!

I haven't tried the white variety but now that you mention it I must give it a try too! I agree that will make a nice combo. And I'll have more borage plants to share with the garden!

I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
Christine

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

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Patti1957

Jun 10, 2010 9:50 AM CST

Christine, how close do you plant the borage to the tomato plant to have an effect?

| Quote | Post #54126 (3)

AYankeeCat

Jun 10, 2010 10:02 AM CST

Name: Memory Russell
SW Connecticut

Very interesting article. Thank you. I am going now to see if it will grow in zone 6.

| Quote | Post #54127 (4)

wildflowers

Jun 10, 2010 10:15 AM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Hi Patti, The borage should be in "close proximity" to the tomatoes to have an effect as a companion ~ so I have mine about two and a half to three feet away. Since tomatoes can grow quite large, I didn't want to drown out the borage.

Memory, since borage is a very hardy annual, I would think you could grow it in your zone in a sunny position.

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54128 (5)

Patti1957

Jun 10, 2010 10:47 AM CST

Thanks Christine, my borage reseeded itself all over where I had it planted last year and I transplanted them into 4" pots. Now I have a bunch of borage plants and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them until I read your article. Now I will be planting them by the tomatoes and cucumbers! Thanks again for the great article.

| Quote | Post #54129 (6)

Hemophobic

Jun 10, 2010 7:27 PM CST

Name: Angie
Concord, NC (zone 7)

Isn't this also called Comfey? I have a huge plant of Comfey and it looks just like this.

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

| Quote | Post #54130 (7)

wildflowers

Jun 10, 2010 8:13 PM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Hi Angie,

Comfrey, Symphytum officinale is usually a much larger plant than the borage and the flowers are in a cluster, more of a plum color.

I wish I had a picture to send you. I will go look for a link.

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54131 (8)

wildflowers

Jun 10, 2010 8:31 PM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

I can see why you would think they are the same. They have the same growth habit and they are both hairy!!

http://www.google.com/images?s...

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54132 (9)

Boopaints

Jun 10, 2010 11:25 PM CST

Name: Becky (Boo)
Phoenix, AZ 85022
finding joy one day at a time!

I loved learning about a new herb. Where can I purchase these? Is it from seed?

And the ice cube idea is so fun!

ALL THINGS PLANTS ~ Garden Art ~ Purslane & Portulaca ~
MY CUBITS ~ Trust in the Lord ~
MY WEB SITE ~ Joyful Times Today

| Quote | Post #54133 (10)

wildflowers

Jun 11, 2010 5:41 AM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Hi Becky,

Thanks for stopping by!

It's usually easier to grow from seed because not all nurseries carry borage, unless they have lots of herbs available.

They're really easy to grow - just direct sow where they will get sunshine.

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54134 (11)

Boopaints

Jun 11, 2010 12:49 PM CST

Name: Becky (Boo)
Phoenix, AZ 85022
finding joy one day at a time!

I joined your cubit...excited to learn new tricks!

ALL THINGS PLANTS ~ Garden Art ~ Purslane & Portulaca ~
MY CUBITS ~ Trust in the Lord ~
MY WEB SITE ~ Joyful Times Today

| Quote | Post #54135 (12)

wildflowers

Jun 11, 2010 1:58 PM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

It will be fun.

We all are learning all the time and would love to hear any tips you have too!

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54136 (13)

Bubbles

Jun 12, 2010 4:10 PM CST

Name: Sandi
Austin, Tx (Zone 8b)
Texas Gardening

Great article..always looking for a good blue flower for the garden. Good tip for making fancy ice cubes too!

Texas Gardening
Tropicals

| Quote | Post #54137 (14)

wildflowers

Jun 12, 2010 5:44 PM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Bubbles, thank you for reading my article, and for writing to me.

I love the name bubbles, it's so full of life!

The ice cubes are fun to do, I do them sometimes just for plain water because that's mostly what we drink. It does look so festive. Blooms don't always show up when you want them to ~ like when company is coming, so this is a nice way to show off your flowers!!

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54138 (15)

stephanietx

Jun 12, 2010 8:34 PM CST

Name: Stephanie
Fort Worth, TX (8a)

Great article, Christine! I'm growing borage for the first time this year. They're planted among the strawberries and are a couple of feet away from the tomato plants. I winter sowed about 10 seeds and they all germinated, so I planted some out in the perennial bed just for color. They've just started to bloom and I'm so excited about that since the flowers are so pretty!

Stephanie

| Quote | Post #54139 (16)

wildflowers

Jun 13, 2010 5:53 AM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Hi Stephanie!

Thank you!

And thanks for sharing your gardening experience with borage & your photo-it looks great!

Winter sowing is such a great way to plant seeds! I'm glad to know you had a perfect germination too.

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| Quote | Post #54140 (17)

Hemophobic

Jun 13, 2010 4:53 PM CST

Name: Angie
Concord, NC (zone 7)

Christine: Thank you for the clarification on comfrey, which I mistyped! Maybe I'll switch to the borage and eliminate the comfrey from my garden or move it to a place where it has lots more room, because it's a large plant, beautiful but large!

Angie

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

| Quote | Post #54141 (18)

denimangle

Jun 15, 2010 3:16 PM CST

Name: Cheryl White
Butler, Texas

learn something new every day .. Great article Where can I find borage? I would love to plant around the strawberries and the tomato plants. I really hate hookworms YUCK!!!
Cheryl

check out my new store Metamorphosis Upcycled/Recycled Glass
http://www.facebook.com/Metamo... , http://cubits.org/diycomforthe...

| Quote | Post #54142 (19)

Patti1957

Jun 15, 2010 3:24 PM CST

I got White Flowered Borage at Nichols Garden Nursery I am sure the have the Blue Flowered also.

| Quote | Post #54143 (20)