Draw Pollinators To Your Yard With This Easy-To-Grow Annual Herb
If you're looking for a way to lure more bees to your garden this year, borage, also known as starflower, could be a great solution. This annual herb has fuzzy, edible leaves that taste similar to cucumber and blossoms with gorgeous blue flowers that will bring more pollinators into your yard and garden. Bumble bees, honey bees, and native bees are all fans of this ornamental plant, making it helpful for pollinating your vegetable garden.
Additionally, borage is also known to deter pests, including hornworms, and keep them from bothering your fruits and vegetables. This is part of why borage makes a great companion plant for strawberries and tomatoes. Starflower plants can also grow to be a few feet tall, allowing them to provide shade to some of the plants in your garden that don't tolerate full sun. This herb is relatively easy to grow and can handle dryer environments. Planting borage in your garden comes with a lot of benefits, keeping pests off your crops and growing beautiful flowers that can be enjoyed by both you and pollinating insects.
Growing borage to draw pollinators to your yard
Borage can be started from seed in your garden at the start of spring, or you can place the seeds in small pots indoors. Make sure that the seeds are only about ½ inch from the top of the soil and are left in an area with lots of direct sunlight. These plants prefer to have exposure to as much sun as possible, but they will handle a little bit of shade. While this herb isn't very particular about the soil it's grown in, you'll want to make sure that it drains well. Otherwise, borage is known to thrive even when grown in poor, nutrient-deficient soil. This plant also only needs to be watered when the soil dries out, and prefers not to be overwatered.
Though borage is considered an annual herb, it will continue popping up in your garden year after year because it is a self-seeding flower that can potentially cover a whole yard. It's sure to spread, but the seedlings should be fairly easy to yank out of your garden bed if they become too abundant. The good news is that by planting borage once, it will keep drawing pollinators to your yard every year.