The star-shaped, Madonna blue flowers are soothing and happy…
Misha: This time we’ll be growing a type of herb called borage.
Hachibee: It’s a strange-shaped flower, sort of like a blue star or a starfish.
Misha: This blue color is called Madonna blue, and in the past, artists used this flower to paint the blue robe of the Virgin Mary.
Hachibee: That’s a divine color. That’s how beautiful the blue is.
Misha: The color is beautiful, but borage also has the effect of lifting your spirits as an herb. When you feel down or tired, it brightens your mood and gives you courage. I wonder how borage grows.
Hachibee: Let’s get started!
Borage “almost weekly” cultivation report
9/17 Planting
Hachibee: So these are borage seeds. They’re pretty big. They’re black and hard.
Misha: Borage is planted in the fall. The seeds fall to the ground from the seed clusters, so you don’t really need to bury them in the soil.
9/24 Germination
Hachibee: They sprouted quickly! And the sprouts are thick and look quite healthy.
10/1 The buds grow
Hachibee: Hmm! It’s grown so much!
Misha: Borage has great growth power. It’s perfectly fine even if you start planting it outdoors.
10/8 The fourth leaf appears
Hachibee: They’re growing up so well.
10/15 5th to 6th leaves appear
Hachibee: Oh? This leaf is a little different in shape.
Misha: Yes, this leaf with a unique spongy texture is a borage leaf.
10/22 Leaves begin to grow
Hachibee: It’s growing, it’s growing!
Misha: As it starts to grow, the leaves are getting a nice darker color.
10/29 The leaves have a unique shape
Hachibee: It’s starting to get wrinkly and fluffy.
Misha: This is the true essence of borage.
11/5 More leaves grow
Hachibee: Oh, it’s gradually starting to fill up the ground.
11/12 The leaves get bigger
Hachibee: The leaves have grown big. Borage leaves are pretty big.
11/19 The leaves start to grow upwards
Hachibee: You’ve gotten pretty wild looking all of a sudden.
Misha: The leaves and stems have gotten so much thicker and more reliable.
11/26 The grass grows taller
Hachibee: It seems that the newer the leaves are, the more clearly the sponge-like pattern becomes.
12/3 There are still leaves coming out
Hachibee: Even though it’s already December, leaves are still coming out!
Misha: Maybe it’s trying to absorb as much light as possible to gather strength before winter comes.
12/10 Growth begins to stall
Hachibee: I guess the growth rate has slowed down now that we’re in December.
12/17 Growth halt
Hachibee: His growth stopped completely!
Misha: The borage is finally getting ready for winter.
12/24 Appearance, unchanged
Misha: Merry Christmas.
Hachibee: Borage has already gone into hibernation and can’t hear us say Merry Christmas anymore.
12/31 The leaves stick to the ground
Hachibee: It stuck to the ground to keep out the cold wind.
Misha: It’s what we call a rosette. It spreads all over the ground and gets plenty of sunlight.
1/7 Braving the cold
Hachibee: Good luck!
1/14 Still enduring the cold!
Hachibee: Wow, that looks cold!
Misha: It’s the coldest time of the year right now. But even in this extremely cold season, borage’s leaves are still green. It’s very cold-resistant.
1/21 Still enduring
Hachibee: It looks like it’s stuck even more tightly to the ground.
1/28 Braving the cold
Hachibee: I’m even impressed by the way it can withstand the bitter cold.
2/4 Still enduring the cold
Hachibee: The new bud in the middle of the plant has stopped growing, just as it was in December, and it’s as if time has stopped.
2/11 Withstands snow
Hachibee: Even though it snowed and there’s ice on the leaves, the leaves are still bright green!
2/18 Growth resumes!
Hachibee: Oh! New leaves are starting to appear again!
Misha: Even if the outer leaves that survived the winter die, new leaves continue the life. I feel the mystery of life.
2/25 The leaves start to grow upwards
Hachibee: It looks like he’s raising his arms in the air.
Misha: The borage has been saving its strength all winter.
3/3 New leaves appear one after another
Hachibee: They’re coming out!
3/10 More new leaves appear
Hachibee: They look like baby’s hands, so cute!
Misha: What a beautiful young leaf color.
3/17 The leaves start to grow upwards
Hachibee: With every rain, more leaves appear.
Misha: All the new leaves start growing upwards at the same time.
3/24 Leaves stand up
Hachibee: It’s getting quite warm now, so the borage seems to be doing full of life.
Misha: Yes, and it’s finally bud season.
3/31 Buds form
Hachibee: Buds have appeared!
4/7 The clusters of buds grow large and begin to spread out.
Hachibee: These are unique buds.
Misha: It feels like a bunch of buds are massed together and pushed upwards all at once.
4/14 Blooming!
Hachibee: What?! The flowers have already bloomed! So fast! And they are beautiful blue, star-shaped flowers!
Misha: Borage flowers are shy, so for some reason they all bloom with their heads down. It’s so adorable.
4/21 Flowers start to bloom one after another
Hachibee: The flowers bloom one after another, popping, just like fireworks.
4/28 The flowers fall and the seeds begin to form.
Hachibee: When the flowers drop like a parachute, the buds remain. Borage has a strange shape, with its hairy stems.
5/5 Seeds begin to form
Hachibee: Although it’s hard to see very well, it looks like it’s forming properly deep inside the flower.
5/12 The seeds grow
Hachibee: Oh, it’s done, it’s done! But it starts out as green grains.
5/19 The seeds fall – the end
Hachibee: Once the seeds turn black, they will drop to the ground just like the flowers.
Misha: The reason why the flowers and seeds were facing down was so that they could fall. Borage is quite an extraordinary plant, both in its strength to endure the winter and in its ingenious idea of dropping seeds from the flowers. I have never had such a fun flower to observe.
～Borage cultivation points～
Cultivation difficulty：★☆☆☆☆
A winter-hardy plant that is planted in autumn and blooms around May.
Its robust growth and reproductive ability, with large numbers of seeds dropping from its flowers, are on par with those of wild plants.
Even in the coldest of winters, the leaves grow lush and large.
There is something more encouraging than the benefits of herbs.
Borage is a low-care plant and is recommended for those new to winter-hardy plants.
