Borage

Borage is an annual and dies off after the first frost. There is nothing to overwinter on the plant itself. At the end of the season, let a few flowers ripen: the seeds fall by themselves, survive the winter in the soil and reliably germinate again in spring.

You propagate borage exclusively by sowing. Vegetative methods make no sense for this annual species. Sow the seeds directly in the bed from mid-April, as soon as night frosts are no longer a threat, and cover them well with soil, because borage is a dark-germinating seed and needs darkness to germinate; a sowing depth of about 1 to 2 cm is enough. Keep a spacing of 30 to 40 cm between plants, as the plants become sturdy and broad. Starting seeds on the windowsill from March is possible, but borage forms a deep taproot and tolerates transplanting poorly; when thinning out you easily damage the root. Direct sowing into the final bed is therefore much more reliable. Once borage has flowered and set seed, it self-seeds vigorously every year, so that after the first season you hardly need to do anything. If you want to control self-seeding, harvest the small round nutlets shortly before they are fully ripe and store them dry, cool and dark until the next season. Germination ability falls off noticeably in the second year of storage, so it is best always to use fresh seed from the previous year.