Very ornamental, borage is versatile enough that it can fill numerous roles. It can be used in a range of garden situations from mixed borders, containers, and annual flower beds to traditional herb gardens and kitchen gardens. I like to interplant it with spring-flowering bulbs where the borage conceals the dying bulb foliage from view.
Also known as cool tankard and talewort, borage offers beauty to the landscape through its foliage and its lovely star-shaped flowers. Arranged in branching cymes, these blossoms are mostly pale blue, sometimes white. With five lobes, they're an inch across.
In addition, the hairy, bluish-green foliage is very attractive. The stout, robust plants are bushy. They reach two feet in height with a width of one to 1½ feet. This species is covered with stiff, coarse hairs. The upper leaves clasp the stems. In certain sensitive individuals, the leaves can cause dermatitis, actually resulting from mechanical injury rather than a true allergic reaction.
Borage is one of the easiest herbs to grow from seeds. Because they are large and easy to handle, this would be a suitable choice for children's gardens. For containers, I just plant the seed right in the pots. Normally, it doesn't transplant well. However, if you choose a cloudy day to do this and keep it well-watered, borage should be okay even if it wilts some right after it is transplanted.
Once you plant borage in a bed, it will likely self sow. Just allow enough the volunteers to produce some seeds each year, and you're all set.
Borage needs full sun. Allow it to dry out slightly between waterings. It can withstand dry weather, but will really do better if it receives supplemental moisture during prolonged dry spells. This herb performs best in poor, loose soils. If you want to harvest throughout the growing season, sow successive plantings several weeks apart during the growing season.
Though we may often think of borage as a medicinal herb, it has historically been used as an edible plant. To this day, the flowers are crystallized and used as cake decorations. The young leaves are either batter fried or cooked like spinach. Despite their hairy appearance, the foliage is quite appetizing. The hairs disappear when the leaves are cooked.
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