Borage

Borage is one of the most prolific herbs growing around my home. I’m never without transplants and I’m forever moving borage around to this or that garden space to attract bees and other pollinators. Borago officinalis‘s lovely blue star-like flower can be used in salads, teas, and magickal rituals and the cool and moist quality of the leaves and seeds increases milk flow in nursing mothers and calms the nerves.

Borage spreads out and grows between two and three feet tall, assuming it has some support, otherwise, it falls over, covering everything. Unfortunately, mine tend to block the light of other plants and I regularly cut it back and give the fresh borage to my chickens who absolutely love it!

As a diaphoretic and febrifuge, borage reduces fever and heals both the body and Spirit, nourishing and strengthening the adrenal glands. And its calming effect may relieve nervous conditions. With its mucilage quality, the leaves may be used in poultices on inflamed skin, but some folks experience contact dermatitis when touching the leaves much like what occurs with comfrey, so be aware of that if using fresh leaves in a poultice.

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The leaves should be harvested as the plant begins to flower and gathered singly off the plant. A typical infusion or tea involves adding two teaspoons of dried borage leaf to a cup of boiling water and left to steep for ten to fifteen minutes, longer for a stronger tea. Michael Moore in Medicinal Plants of the Northwest suggests given that borage contains pyrrolizine alkaloid, the internal use of borage leaf should be used with caution and limited to short-term use as this type of alkaloid has been shown to possibly cause both liver damage and cancer from prolonged use. (Moore, Kindle loc 6642)

I primarily use borage as a companion plant to attract and provide food for not only the bees from my apiary but for the other pollinators as well. And, I use the flowers in magickal workings to sooth melancholy and grief. I’ve added some leaf to a lemon balm-based tea blend, but I’ve never used borage on its own other than to rub some liquid from its large stalk on a mosquito bite while out in the garden. Culpeper states that borage is an herb of both Jupiter and Leo and as such have been used in the past in both tonics and cordials in recovery from long illnesses. (Culpeper, Kindle loc 1008-1009) But again, as Michael Moore states, short-term use as a tea is all that he appears to recommend.

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So, although I definitely recommend consulting an herbal practitioner or another health professional before treating any conditions with borage, you can still plant borage everywhere. It’s a beautiful plant and the bees will thank you. And taking a walk next to where it grows may just cheer your heart!

Until next time…

Herbal Blessings!

References

1. Culpeper, Nicholas. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal: to which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities. [S.l. : s.n.. Kindle Edition.
2. Moore, Michael. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Museum of New Mexico Press. Kindle Edition.