In praise of Borage

I've always been fond of Borage (Borago officinalis). It has lovely fuzzy buds, stems and leaves, and its star-shaped blue-pink flowers are highly attractive to bees. It makes gardening on my allotment such a pleasure, hearing the varied sounds of different pollinators as they take advantage of this tough and opportunistic annual.

It's also a valuable companion plant, and luckily for me it has self-seeded between my spinach, tomatoes and strawberries. Left to its own devices it can form large clumps, but even just a few plants will help the bees.

As it's so easy to grow I decided to add it to the garden, and last season collected the seeds from my allotment plants. This spring I sowed them in a tray in my small grow-house. 

They grew vigorously and I transplanted them to larger pots, then finally to tubs.

I've been rewarded with several plants that are now drawing in the bees.

Its seems a favourite with honeybees, but the bumbles are attracted to it too (I think the one below is a Buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris). Photographing them is another matter however, as they don't stay still for long!

A fragrant garden for wildlife

One of my enduring pleasures, when the evenings are warm and still, is to stand in the garden and inhale deeply whilst listening to the dusk chorus of our local blackbirds and robins. I just planted things I like, which I knew would attract wildlife but which also had fragrance, and more by luck than design the garden consequently smells lovely right through spring and summer.

It begins in late spring with an unknown variety of Honeysuckle which scrambles happily and untidily over my fence, its small white to yellow flowers releasing a delicate scent that wafts through my open kitchen door, and attracts many bumbles and honeybees; a reassuring sign that summer is near.

Just as it begins to fade, it’s followed in early June by Mock Orange, Philadelphus, with its gorgeous citrus aroma, reminding me of my childhood garden where it grew abundantly on the heavy clay soil. This also attracts insects, especially some tiny bees.

Philadelphus with visitor

Not long afterwards Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) with its pale pink buds opening into small, delicate star-shaped white blooms fills air with its unmistakable smell. 

Jasminum officinale

Then the garden thug, Buddleia davidii - which I planted in the wrong spot, which has grown far too big, which the neighbours probably curse from the other side of the wall, and which every winter I say I’ll give a good prune - begins to fire on all cylinders producing huge pale mauve inflorescences which release a richly honeyed perfume. 

Buddleia davidii

A magnet to many invertebrates, my Buddleia especially seems to attract good numbers night-flying moths, like the Silver Y, which in turn bring the neighbourhood bats low over the shrub to feed on them.

I’ve had Brown long-eared bats (I’ve actually seen their long ears, they were so close!) and Pipistrelles hawking for moths on hot summer nights. During the day, bees, hover-flies and butterflies all seek it out. 

I’ll prune the Buddleia another time!