Borage

Direct sow in place once frost danger has passed

Sow borage seed right where it will grow, about a quarter inch deep, after your last frost and once the soil has warmed. Pick a full-sun spot with good drainage; borage is unfussy about soil fertility and will do fine on poor ground. Do not start it in cells and move it out later. Borage sends down a taproot early and resents being lifted, so seedlings started in pots transplant badly and sulk. Seed sown in place skips the check and catches up to a transplant within weeks.

Sow again every four weeks for tender leaves

If you want borage leaves for the kitchen rather than just flowers for the bees, make successive sowings about four weeks apart through the growing season - three plantings is a good target. Only young borage leaves are worth eating; as a plant ages its foliage coarsens and the bristles stiffen until the leaves are unpleasant raw. A fresh batch of plants coming on every month keeps tender growth in supply instead of one aging stand.

Thin seedlings to a foot apart

Once seedlings are up and handling well, thin them to stand about 12 inches apart, with roughly 18 inches between rows. Pull the extras rather than cutting around the keepers. A borage plant fills out to two or three feet of coarse, hairy foliage, and crowded plants trap still, humid air between them. That stagnant air is what lets powdery mildew take hold on a plant that otherwise has almost no disease problems.

Deadhead to keep bloom coming and volunteers down

Snip spent flower heads off any plants you do not want reseeding themselves. Leave a few heads to set seed if you want borage back next year - one or two plants will supply plenty. Borage is a prolific self-sower and will carpet a bed with volunteers if every head is allowed to ripen. Cutting heads before the seed drops also pushes the plant to keep flowering rather than shutting down once it has set seed.

Stake plants before they get top-heavy

As plants approach their full two to three feet, give them a stake or a ring support, especially in an exposed or windy site. Borage stems are hollow and brittle rather than woody, and a tall plant loaded with flowers snaps or splays in wind instead of bending with it. A broken main stem ends that plant's bloom for the season.

Pick blossoms as they open and leaves while young

Pick the star-shaped blossoms as each one opens, and take leaves fresh while they are still young and soft - morning, once the dew has dried but before the sun gets hot, is the best time and retains the most flavor. Use both fresh; borage is seldom worth drying because the cucumber flavor does not survive it. Flowers are only good for a day or two once open, and the plant keeps throwing new ones as long as you keep picking. Leaves toughen and grow bristlier with age, so the eating window on any given leaf is short.

⚠ Borage leaves contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which per NC State Extension can damage the liver and lungs and are potentially carcinogenic - eat the leaves and flowers sparingly and not as a daily staple, and use only borage seed oil certified PA-free. University of Illinois Extension notes the harsh hairs on stems and leaves may cause skin irritation in some people, so consider gloves when harvesting.