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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Borage







 As most leaves turn orange, yellow, and red, the borage flower is still out and its leaves are green.



From Botanical.com:

 "The whole plant is rough with white, stiff, prickly hairs. The round stems, about 1 1/2 feet high, are branched, hollow and succulent; the leaves alternate, large, wrinkled, deep green, oval and pointed, 3
inches long or more, and about 1 1/2 inch broad, the lower ones stalked, with stiff, one celled hairs on the upper surfaces and on the veins below, the margins entire, but wavy. The flowers, which terminate the cells, are bright blue and star-shaped, distinguished from those of every plant in this order by their prominent black anthers, which form a cone in the centre and have been described as their beauty spot. The fruit consists of four brownish-black nutlets.








 From Honest Food


"Even the question is a little ridiculous: What do you do with too much borage? Most people barely even know that borage exists, let alone that a) it is edible and b) what you might do to highlight its flavor. Borage arrived in my garden five years ago when I planted it not to eat, but as a bee attractant: The more bees in your garden, the better they pollinate its other plants.
Once you plant borage, you have it forever. It so readily seeds itself I get volunteers sprouting all year long; sometimes those seedlings get, well, a little aggressive."

1 comment:

  1. That was always one my favorite plants when I lived in Anchorage. Bought one almost by accident one year at Alaska Mill and Feed and grew some every year thereafter. They are easy to grow, beautiful, and like you say attrack bees.

    ReplyDelete

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