Borage |

When I select plants for the potager, I select on two criteria; form and function. In my row garden, plants are always selected for function. I grow food in those beds and I plant what I like to eat. If I can make it look attractive, that is a bonus but it is not what I select for. When I plant a bed or border around the house I select solely on form because I am designing something that looks good. The potager is where my two styles come together. I want the potager to be beautiful but I also want it to produce food. So, a lot more thought goes into the plants for the potager.

Young borage in my potager. I planted this at the end of March and this picture was taken on May 25

One of the annuals that almost always makes its way into the spring potager is borage. Borage is a large scale, leafy herb that produces beautiful little star shaped, corn blue flowers. The leaves have a mild cucumber taste and can be used in salads and drinks. As the plant matures, those cumber tasting leaves become “fuzzy”. A lot of folks, me included, do not like the texture of the leaves when they get to this point. However, since I don’t grow it primarily for food, I don’t really care about the stiff fuzz on the leaves. I grow it in the potager because it makes a very lovely three foot tall cone shaped bush. Plus I love the tiny flowers.

I love the fuzzy white flower buds

Borage is a great choice for containers, the garden and the flower bed. It is fairly drought tolerant. Botanists believe it originated in Syria so it is perfectly designed to take high heat and low water. It is also fairly pest and disease resistant. Like most herbs it prefers a loose, well draining soil. I plant from seed in March in full sun and give it about an inch of water every five days or so. This treatment makes it thrive. There are some bugs that nibble on the leaves, but what plant doesn’t have a few leaf munching predators? Borage is also a great companion plant for tomatoes, squash and strawberries. Some say that it is actually a deterrent to hornworms.

The blue, star shaped flowers are lovely

As I mentioned earlier, the flowers are really why I grow this plant. I love those little blue stars (the fuzzy white buds are almost as cute)! These pretty blue flowers are edible and they also have the mild cucumber flavor of the leaves. Add them directly to your summer salads for a quick way to liven it up. You can also freeze the flowers in ice cubes and add those flower filled cubes to your summer drinks.

This morning I awoke to the soft sounds of rain falling on our tin roof. There is something so calming, refreshing and nostalgic about that sound. A cool May morning in Texas is something to savor and celebrate. So, after breakfast, I put on some clothes, grabbed the camera and headed outside. The rain had stopped but the sun had not yet broken through the clouds. The air was heavy and cool and the light was filtered and soft. I love mornings like this because they are so rare in the South.

As I wandered through my yard I snapped tons of pictures. Despite the heat and weeds that are again trying to take over, May is my favorite month for gardening. Flowers are blooming and the vegetables are beginning to share their fruits. This morning was a perfect start to what promises to be a spectacular day. Here are several pictures of some of the things that helped to make my morning so special.

Daylillies

One thing that I truly love about my little garden is the fact that almost everyone of my plants came from someone I know. All of my daylillies, and I have hundreds, came from either my wife’s grandmother or a promising young horticulturist named Chris Von Kohn. Daylillies and May are synonymous in my mind. I am always incredibly excited when the first one opens at the beginning of the month and then equally sad when the bloom falls toward the end of the month. Here are some shots of the one’s that were in bloom this morning.

Here is a very lovely daylily that was bred by Chris Von Kohn.

Here is another one of Chris’s lovely creations.

Here is one of my borders filled with Hyperion daylilies that we got from my wife’s grandmother. Over the years we have turned our original clump into literally hundreds of plants.

Miscellaneous Blooms

I absolutely love cleome or Spider Flower. I was very pleased to see that the first one of the season has decided to open up.

Our easter lilies finally opened. Very lovely and they last so long in a vase.

I absolutely love Powis Castle artemsia. Here it pairs nicely with old fashioned petunias.

Daylilies aren’t they only thing blooming in my beds. A no fail stunner for me is always my Victoria salvia.

My native Datura is beginning to bloom

I love the combination of the old fashioned petunias with the Ruellia or Mexican petunias.

Here is a very lovely pink yarrow shared with me by my friend Cynthia Mueller.

I love the color and texture of coleus. These are in an old washstand with portulaca and calibrachoa

Vegetables and Herbs

This year I finally got arounf to building raised beds for my vegetables. I have three 33′ rows that I filled with a mix of 60% river sand and 40% mushroom compost. My building was delayed by all of the rain so I got my garden in a little late. However, it is really beggining to take off.

One of my favorite herbs is borage. Even though it has a nice, mild cucmber flavor, I don’t really like to eat it. The leaves are too fuzzy for me. However, it makes a lovely plant. Plus, it has beautiful little blue flowers that look great frozen in a ice cube.

I have 18 tomato plants growing. Because of that we will be making lots of salsa. I planted cilantro in a buried 2.5 gallon pot to try and keep it in check. I use this same trick with my mint.

Summer isn’t complete with out squash. My yellow crook neck it beginning to produce.

I love peppers. Because of this I have several varieties currently growning. Last Saturday we picked our first bell. It was perfectly shaped and a perfect size so we took it in and immediately ate it. We cut it into two thick slices that we sauteed in bacon grease. Once it softened up a bit we cracked an egg to the center. We topped it off with grilled onions, bell pepper and and shreaded American cheese. People that don’t garden will never know how truly wonderful a dish like this is.

Tag Archives: Borage

Borage (Borago officinalis)

Rainy Day Blooms