I bought a Borage plant, tag said bees like it.

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So yeah I bought a plant called Borage along with some other plants to put on my patio. Little did I know Borage is an amazing little plant. I just got it cause knowing the problems bees face I wanted to provide a little help by putting flowers on my patio and the tag it had said it attracts pollinators so that's why I got it. But turns out you can eat the leaves and the flowers, the leaves apparently have kind of a cucumber flavor and the flowers taste like honey. It can also be used as a companion plant to help other plants...like if you plant them near tomatoes it can confuse the tomato moths so they lay their eggs on the Borage instead of the tomatoes so in effect your tomatoes won't be eaten up as much by the tomato catapillars. And according to wikipedia in some greek mythology and practices it was said to make you happy if you eat it, and could quiet a lunatic...so IDK maybe it has some positive mental health properties to. Not that anyone cares but I guess I just think its cool I got a random plant and found out it has a lot of cool properties.

Of course being me I couldn't just get the plant and then not research more about it.

Nice. I already knew a bit about borage but learnt a couple of new things from you. Thank you.

I have lots of borage too. I don't eat the variety that has pointed leaves but in Sicily there is a variety that has more rounded leaves, with quite sharp spines and that one is full of potassium and really tasty. I cook pasta, mash garlic with a pestle and mortar till it's smooth, sometimes using a little rock salt, slowly add olive oil till it becomes a smooth paste, add the leaves to the pasta a few minutes before it's cooked and stir in the garlic at the end.



Wild borage leaves looks similar to deadly foxgloves.

Interesting.

More than one ornamental plant is also edible. Supposedly that plant that grows on Chia Pets is good to eat.

I think it's absolutely awesome that you bought a plant because bees would like it!

I'd never heard of borage before, so I googled it. Apparently it's called "agurkurt" here which literally means cucumber herb. It's an important source of nectar for bees

Borage is a great plant. I’m so glad you are into pollinator plants. I am too and have filled my garden with them.

Chia is an edible plant. It’s itsy-bitsy seeds are reputed to be why the Tarahumara are such great long distance runners.

Sweetleaf, what else are you growing?

I have a lemon mint, a cayenne pepper and Celosia flower its all purple leaves and all, I also have an aloe-vera but not sure how that one is doing its not looking good but its not dead so it could come back. But yeah I only have a small little patio at my apartment so I can't grow a lot of stuff but.

The lemon mint is supposed to attract bees to, but I didn't think mint grew flowers....it has not grown any yet so not sure.

Mints are flowering plants. Stalks of purple or white flowers depending on the kind of mint.

Aloe vera, don’t give it too much water.

It all sounds so exciting!

Never heard of borage either. Its also called "star flower". Just wikied it.

Amazing plant with different edible parts.

It’s a beautiful plants and the bees certainly need our help.

I used to have a lavender bush in my last house and the bees loved it. This is not my photo but I have a lot of photos like it.

What is your climate like? I ask because every time I buy lavender the plants die almost immediately. It is hot and humid where I live.

The OP lives in Denver Colorado which is the "Mile High City" right where the prairie ends and where the Rocky Mountains begin.

The middle of temperate zone USA, but dry (less than half of the annual rainfall of Chicago or DC), and 5000 feet up. So it is a distinctive dry and thin air climate. Probably different from your home.

I'm in the UK. Have you tried some of the hardier Lavenders like Spanish or French , they fair better in hotter climates. Lavender Phenomenal is the hardiest of the species and will grow in Florida.

Excellent information TuskenR. I will look into the phenomenal one. Florida is a very long state; a lot of things growing in north Florida will not grow in south Florida. But I will try!

Good luck