Borage is an Annual?

I've read all over the place that borage, the herb, is an annual. That it dies back in cold weather, and needs replanting.

So last year (2008), I took several kinds of herb seeds, carefully marked them, and sowed them in peat pellets. Some grew and some didn't. The ones that grew I transplanted (with the markers). The borage is one of those that grew magnificently. Beautiful green, fuzzy leafs.

It started dying in the Fall and we just let it. After all, it's an annual, right?

Wrong. At least, not in our home. Even though we had some snow and some sub-zero temperatures this last Winter, it has decided to live.

I took the above right picture on May 19 2009. It IS borage, right?

5 comments:

Ellen said...

That looks like borage to me & yes it's an annual. However it will self seed easily and should come back each year because of that.

DayPhoto said...

Where we live Borage reseeds it's self, so I always have more!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

ThrtnWmsFam said...

Overworked/Linda: That's the thing tho. It never actually died! Even under a foot of heavy wet snow, and in sub-zero weather a few days, a couple of leaves turned black but for the most part, it stayed green, fuzzy and perky. Just weird! Vikki

Anonymous said...

What is the recommended spacing for borage in a square foot garden?

ThrtnWmsFam said...

Anon: Looks like it gets about 2' across/wide so probably 2 square feet. I'd plant it in a corner with maybe a marigold or two.

Just found out that strawberries, squashes and tomatoes benefit from borage growing nearby because it brings in the pollinating bees!

Hope that helps.