Growing Borage: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · July 25, 2026

Borage is a fuzzy-leaved annual herb best known for its star-shaped blue flowers and mild, cucumber-like flavor. Both the young leaves and flowers are edible, and few plants pull in bees as reliably.

Sowing it

Direct-sow seed 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep once the soil has warmed in spring. Borage develops a taproot early and doesn’t transplant well, so starting it indoors is working against the plant rather than with it. Expect flowering and harvestable growth around 50-60 days from sowing.

The straight species is what most seed racks sell, and it’s what the blue-flowered plant most people picture. If you’re growing in a container rather than a garden bed, ‘Bianca’ is worth seeking out instead: it stays more compact and stands up better without staking.

It self-seeds enthusiastically once established

Borage is easy, but it self-seeds enthusiastically once established. If you don’t want volunteers coming up everywhere next year, deadhead before seed pods form or plan on thinning seedlings the following spring.

A pollinator draw, and folklore for the rest

Borage’s flowers are one of the more reliable pollinator draws you can add to a vegetable garden border, and it’s a traditional companion for tomatoes and squash, reputed to improve growth and deter some pests nearby, though, as with most companion-planting claims, treat that as folklore rather than guarantee.

Sources: Borage, Johnny’s Selected Seeds; Borage, Illinois Extension.

Companion planting guide for Borage · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 2-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Borage doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Borage plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-3 ft.

Varieties worth considering

• 'Bianca' (white borage): Standard borage sprawls and gets leggy, which is fine in a border but awkward in a pot. Illinois Extension describes 'Bianca' as a compact, sturdier form with white flowers that's better suited to container growing, useful if you want borage on a patio instead of staked in a bed. (source)

Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.

Where to buy borage seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.

See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing borage" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

Pin this for later

Growing Borage: A cucumber-flavored, self-seeding pollinator magnet that resents transplanting and rewards being left alone.

Save to Pinterest