Borage for ‘courage’

Perennial
Borago officinalis
Family: Boraginaceae

Despite being reviled by some gardeners as an ‘untidy weed’ borage is a delightful addition to any herb garden with its sparkling blue or rarer white flowers which entice bees from early spring to early autumn.

Blue, and if you’re lucky, white starry flowers are a very attractive addition to the garden despite its sprawling growth habit.

Plant near strawberries, and see the end result in bigger, sweeter fruit. It also strengthens resistance to insects and disease of nearby plants.

Borage is also one of the best bee magnets wherever pollinators are needed, as they love borage’s plentiful, sweet nectar.

Easily grown from seed; it will self-sow annually. Borage adapts to most positions and is very hardy.

The foliage does not store well, but the flowers can be crystallised.

The flowers and leaves have a crisp cucumber flavour. Delicious in salads. Wash leaves under cold water to reduce prickliness of leaves.

History

The ‘Herb of Gladness’, borage was a favourite of ancient scholars and writers.

John Gerard in his Herball writes:

Those of our time do use the floures in sallads to exhilerate and make the minde glad.

There be also many things made of them, used for the comfort of the heart, to drive away sorrow, & increase the joy of the minde.

The leaves and floures of Borrage put into wine make men and women glad and merry, driving away all sadnesse, dulnesse, and melancholy, as Dioscorides and Pliny affirme.

Syrrup made of the floures of Borrage comforteth the heart, purgeth melancholy, and quieteth the phrenticke or lunaticke person.

The generic name is thought to be derived from the Latin borra, ‘rough hair’, referring to its hairy stems and leaves.

Young borage leaves used to be boiled and eaten as a potherb and, finely shredded, were also eaten in spring salads. The flower is a symbol for courage.

Uses

Medicinal: Diuretic, demulcent, and emollient. An infusion drunk hot helps reduce temperatures and fevers. Very rich in potassium and easily assimilable calcium.
Culinary: Flowers and leaves have a crisp cucumber flavour. Delicious in salads. Wash leaves under cold water to reduce prickliness of leaves.
Ornamental: Blue, starry flowers are a very attractive addition to the garden despite its sprawling growth habit.
Companion planting: Plant with strawberries, as the two are mutually beneficial. It strengthens resistance to
insects and disease of nearby plants.
Other: Attracts bees to the garden wherever pollinators are needed, as they love borage’s plentiful, sweet nectar.

Cultivation

Easily grown from seed; will self-sow annually. Adaptable to most positions. Very hardy.
Harvesting & storage: Foliage does not store well, but the flowers can be crystallised.