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Planting guide

When to plant borage

Sky-blue starry flowers on a hairy, fast-growing herb that bees adore. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Dec.

Start as
Seed, sown in place
Flowers in
7–10 wks
Spacing
45 cm
Depth
1 cm
Sun
Full sun (6+ hours)
Water
Regular
Effort
Easy
Colours
blue, white, pink
Frost-tender
No

When it goes in

● means borage can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
TownJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sydney○○○○○○○●●●●●
Melbourne○○○○○○○●●●●●
Brisbane○○○○●●●●●●○○
Perth○○○○○○○●●●●●
Adelaide○○○○○○○●●●●●
Gold Coast○○○○○○○●●●●●
Newcastle○○○○○○○●●●●●
Sunshine Coast○○○○●●●●●●○○
Canberra○○○○○○○○●●●●
Central Coast○○○○○○○●●●●●
Geelong○○○○○○○●●●●●
Wollongong○○○○○○○●●●●●
Hobart○○○○○○○○●●●●
Townsville○○○○●●●●●●○○
Cairns○○○○●●●●○○○○
Toowoomba○○○○○○○●●●●●
Darwin○○○○●●●●○○○○
Ballarat○○○○○○○○●●●●
Mandurah○○○○○○○●●●●●
Bendigo○○○○○○○●●●●●
Launceston○○○○○○○○●●●●
Mackay○○○○●●●●●●○○
Rockhampton○○○○●●●●●●○○
Coffs Harbour○○○○○○○●●●●●
Blue Mountains○○○○○○○○●●●●
Bunbury○○○○○○○●●●●●
Bundaberg○○○○●●●●●●○○
Alice Springs○○○○○○○●●●●●
Mildura○○○○○○○●●●●●
Port Macquarie○○○○○○○●●●●●
Around the world
TownJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Auckland○○○○○○○●●●●●
Wellington○○○○○○○●●●●●
Christchurch○○○○○○○○●●●●
London○○●●●●○○○○○○
Manchester○○●●●●○○○○○○
Edinburgh○○●●●○○○○○○○
Dublin○○●●●●○○○○○○
New York City○○●●●○○○○○○○
Los Angeles○●●●●●○○○○○○
Chicago○○●●●○○○○○○○
Seattle○○●●●●○○○○○○
Austin○●●●●●○○○○○○
Toronto○○●●●○○○○○○○
Vancouver○○●●●○○○○○○○
Cape Town○○○○○○○●●●●●
Johannesburg○○○○○○○●●●●●
Singapore●●○○○○○○○○●●
Mumbai●●○○○○○○○○●●
Paris○○●●●●○○○○○○
Berlin○○●●●○○○○○○○

How to plant borage

  1. Sow seed 1cm deep where it will grow; it dislikes transplanting.
  2. Thin to 45cm apart.
  3. Pick flowers for drinks and salads.
  4. Cut back after flowering or it will seed everywhere.

Borage varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

  • Common borage Classic7–10 wksSold by Happy Valley, Seeds of Plenty
  • Blue borage Classic7–10 wksBlue flowers

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

What borage does for your garden

Bee magnet that lifts fruit set on tomatoes, strawberries and squash.

Good neighbours

Borage by month

More to plant

Not sure borage is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now
When to plant borage in Australia · Sow Now