Alba: kleur en teelt

Blue, white or a perennial relative

Borago officinalis is familiar annual borage. Alba gives white rather than blue stars. Lower Borago pygmaea is a creeping perennial species, not a small annual variety. Choose annuals for easy sowing and the perennial relative to explore a lasting corner.

Give it its own position

Plants beside paths make flower picking easy. Avoid directly above small vegetables: leaves need more room than delicate flowers suggest. Draw mature plants in My vegetable garden, not just seedling pots. Separate corners also allow seed ripening.

Let bees benefit too

Pick a few flowers for a meal, leaving most on the plant. A clear glass with one blue flower shows shape, but borage's main setting is the garden. Photograph flower and rough leaf to identify later seedlings correctly.

Manage self-seeding

Self-seeding borage need not mean keeping every volunteer. Mark one or two useful seedlings and remove others from sowing rows. Keep dry reserve seed too. This preserves enjoyable surprise without hiding next spring's carrots or spinach.

Scent, flavour and use

According to RHS, the flowers of Borago officinalis have a light cucumber-like flavour. Use correctly identified, untreated flowers as a small garnish; do not give a general recommendation to eat all the rough leaves or large quantities of borage.

Care, cutting and harvesting

Sow in April or May directly into loose soil in a sunny spot. Borage tolerates light shade but flowers best in sun. Keep the soil moist at the start, not waterlogged. Expect a fairly large plant; for a pot, RHS recommends a minimum width of around 30 cm.

Borage does not need shaping. Occasional support stops a large plant falling over its neighbours. Borago pygmaea is a perennial relative; clear its dead above-ground remains in autumn. Do not overwinter annuals as woody shrubs.

Pick fresh flowers shortly before use. For seed, let the flowers develop into hard, dark seeds. Shake ripe seed into a paper bag and label it. Remove unwanted self-sown seedlings early where vegetables need space.