Borago officinalis

Borago officinalis

€5,90
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Borago officinalis
  • Borago officinalis
  • Borago officinalis
Borago officinalis

Borago officinalis

€5,90
Organic
Sustainable
Locally grown

Borage (Borago officinalis), is an annual herb in the Boraginaceae plant family.

It is native to the Mediterranean region, but now cultivated around the world for its edible uses and herbal properties.

The flowers produce copious nectar which is used by honeybees to make a light and delicate honey.

The flower has a sweet, honey-like taste and is often used to decorate desserts and cocktails, sometimes frozen in ice cubes.

The leaves are large and rough, covered in bristles or hairs all over the stems and leave.

It is native to the Mediterranean region, and has naturalized in many other locales. It grows well in gardens in most of Europe, such as Ireland, Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom.
Flowering May, June, July, August
Flower Color Blue
Exposure Full Sun
Frost Tolerance 0
Size Outdoors
Soil Cool, Rocky/Well-Draining
Origin Mediterranean
pda582
€5,90
Out of stock

🪴9x9 cm

🚂 Ships across EU
🌱 Grown in our nursery

Striking electric-blue edible flowers from June to September
💦 Naturally drought-tolerant and virtually care-free
🦋 A magnet for bees, butterflies and beneficial insects
🌿 Self-seeds freely — comes back every year on its own
One of the better known German borage recipes is the Frankfurt speciality grüne Soße ("green sauce").

In Persian cuisine, borage tea (using the dried purple flowers) is called گل گاوزبان : gol gâvzabân, "cow's-tongue-flower"

As a fresh vegetable, borage, with a cucumber-like taste, is often used in salads or as a garnish (often seen in Spanish or Greece)

In Italy, borage is always eaten cooked, and is most commonly used to fill ravioli in the regions of Campania and Liguria.
Gardening Tips

It is not a perennial, but it remains in the garden from year to year by self-seeding.
Bioremediation potential : Borage is a salt-accumulating species and can take up high levels of sodium and chlorine ions that are toxic to other plants > it can thus be cultivated as an inter-crop to help remediate saline soils.
The Botany

Floral Morphology: Borago officinalis

Borage has actinomorphic (radially symmetrical), perfect (bisexual) flowers.

The flowers are typically bright blue, sometimes pink when young, and borne in scorpioid cymes.

Each flower has five fused petals forming a star shape and five sepals that are hairy and persistent.

The androecium consists of five stamens with dark purple to black anthers forming a cone around the style.

The gynoecium is composed of a superior ovary with a single style and bifid stigma.

Flowers are rich in nectar and highly attractive to pollinators.

Reproductive Biology

Borago officinalis reproduces sexually by seed.

It is entomophilous (insect-pollinated), relying mainly on bees, especially honeybees and bumblebees.

The flower structure promotes efficient pollen transfer during foraging. The species is generally self-fertile but benefits from cross-pollination, which increases seed set.

After fertilization, the ovary develops into four nutlets, each containing one seed.

Borage readily self-seeds, contributing to its persistence in cultivation and semi-natural habitats.

Ecology

Borage is an annual herbaceous plant native to the Mediterranean region but now widely naturalized in temperate areas.

It thrives in well-drained soils, full sun, and disturbed habitats such as gardens, field margins, and roadsides.

The plant is known for its strong role in supporting pollinators, providing abundant nectar over a long flowering period.

It is moderately drought-tolerant and often used in companion planting and ecological gardening.

Due to its prolific self-seeding, it can behave as a casual or minor weed in some environments.

Learn more about gardening with Borage:
The Myth

Since ancient times it has been one of the most famous and valuable herbs, and has been used in medicine for more than 700 years. It should be noted that the fresh herb contains trace toxins which are hepatotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic.

King Henry VIII's last wife, Catherine Parr, used borage in a concoction to treat melancholy.

Francis Bacon thought that borage had "an excellent spirit to repress the fuliginous vapour of dusky melancholie".

John Gerard's Herball translated an old verse concerning the plant: "Ego Borago, Gaudia semper ago (I, Borage, bring always joys)". However it has been stated recently that ‘gaudia’ is closer to ‘delight’ than ‘courage’

He asserts:

Those of our time do use the flowers in salads to exhilerate and make the mind glad. There be also many things made of these used everywhere for the comfort of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow and increasing the joy of the mind. The leaves and flowers of Borage put into wine make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadness, dullness and melancholy, as Dioscorides and Pliny affirm. Syrup made of the flowers of Borage comfort the heart, purge melancholy and quiet the frantic and lunatic person. The leaves eaten raw engender good blood, especially in those that have been lately sick.

The Celtic name ‘burrach’ meant ‘glad courage’ .

Modern research indicates that borage can stimulate adrenaline production, which helps to lift you up. People who suffer from depression have been found to experience a dramatic drop in adrenaline.

Borage has also been shown to be the richest known plant source of gamma linoleic acid (GLA), an omega-6 polyunsaturated, essential fatty acid. Borage oil is available in capsule form and often marketed as a GLA supplement. Recent research has shown that GLA is active against various cancers, including brain, prostate and breast. GLA inhibits the spread of malignant tumours by restricting blood vessel growth.

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