Plant Borage (herb) to attract bees for pollination

[Liberty7]

I recently learned about the herb, BORAGE, from a book I recently got at the library.

It has star-shaped blue flowers that attract bees which helps with pollinating nearby plants. It's recommended to plant these herbs near beans, tomato plants, squash, and strawberries. It also said that it improves the flavor of tomatoes planted nearby.

The borage herb grows about 18" high and 12' wide.

I looked it up, and the seeds are sold in most catalogs.

I'm going to try it this summer in my garden.

 

[vfem]

I have this growing like a weed randomly in my yard... I guess I won't pull it all up

 

[tinychicken]

It is a beautiful plant that, in my opinion, looks best planted in masses as it is somewhat tall and prone to falling over. However, I've had the same experience. It will self-sow like nothing you've ever seen before. You absolutely will have it all over your property, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just don't be surprised.

 

[Reinbeau]

Borage is great for bees, it's also a nice edible flower to put into salads, and the young leaves taste like cucumber, you can add them to salads, too, although the fuzzy texture takes a bit of getting used to! [rul=[url]http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/info/herbs/borage.asp]Here's[/url] a link to more uses[/url]. Yes, if you let it go to seed you'll have it forever, but it isn't bad to weed out of wherever you don't want it. I let it come up wherever it wants.

 

[farmerlor]

Just as an aside, I hear that chickens like Borage.....on the other hand, I haven't heard of a lot of things that chickens DON'T like.