Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 45 ecoregions — 45 climate-resilient through 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Low water

Spacing

18"

Habit

Rough, sprawling branched annual herb

Care tips

•

Direct-sow in early spring in full sun and lean, well-drained soil — borage thrives where richer plants would flop.

•

Plant near vegetables to pull in bees; it is one of the most reliable pollinator magnets you can sow from seed.

•

Let a few plants set seed and it will return on its own each year — or deadhead and pull volunteers if you want to keep it contained.

Lifecycle

Planting

Easily grown in average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to light shade. Tolerates poor soils and drought. Start seeds indoors in peat pots or sow directly in garden beds in early spring (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Transplanting

Borage resents root disturbance and has a taproot — start in peat pots or sow in place rather than transplanting bare-root. Move container seedlings while young.

Early growth

Direct-sown seedlings grow quickly; thin to about 18 inches apart. No supplemental fertility needed — it does well even in nutritionally poor soil (NC State Extension).

Maturity

Reaches roughly 1-3 feet tall and 0.75-1.5 feet wide, flowering June through August on bristly branched stems. The rough, sprawling habit may benefit from neighboring plants for support.

Propagation

Seed is the standard propagation path. This annual will remain in the garden from year to year by self seeding (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Pollination

Self-fertile

Borage is a classic bee plant — its open, star-shaped blue flowers are a well-documented nectar source and both Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder and NC State Extension flag it as attracting bees and other wildlife. The flowers are self-fertile but readily insect-pollinated, and borage is widely interplanted in vegetable gardens specifically to draw pollinators.

Plants don't grow alone

Larval host

Butterfly

Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)

Boraginaceae is one of the primary V. cardui larval host families (BAMONA / Wisconsin extension); borage (Borago officinalis) is cited in some accounts. Kept conservative as plausible.

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Borage is a renowned honey-bee forage plant; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder and NC State Extension both document it attracting bees, and it is commonly interplanted to draw honey bees to the garden.

Nectar forage

Bee

Common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)

The open, accessible blue flowers are readily worked by bumble bees as well as honey bees; bumble-bee visitation follows from the documented general bee attraction (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder; NC State Extension).

Shelter / habitat

Beetle

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae)

For people

Edible with preparation

Leaves and flowers are edible: tender leaves may be eaten raw or cooked like spinach (they taste of cucumber and lose flavor when dried), and the bright blue flowers make attractive garnishes in salads and cold drinks (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). IMPORTANT: NC State Extension warns the plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) that can damage the liver and lungs and are potentially carcinogenic, so it should only be used sparingly, and any borage seed oil should be certified PA-free.

Edible parts

leaves, flowers

Native range

AHS heat range

1-11

Climate notes

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Borago officinalis as an annual for USDA zones 2 to 11 in full sun to part shade with dry-to-medium water; it is native to the Mediterranean region (Europe) and not native to North America.

•

NC State Extension corroborates the wide hardiness span (zones 2a-11b) and notes it tolerates clay, loam, or sand and acid, neutral, or alkaline pH given good drainage — grown as a warm-season annual across that range rather than overwintering.

•

Tolerates deer and drought (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). As a fast self-seeding annual it can naturalize; it is listed on the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States, so site it where volunteer seedlings are welcome.

In the designer

Growth over time

12-36" tall · 9-18" spread

Self-seeding keeps a borage patch established indefinitely without replanting.

Design roles: Pollinator · Edible · Filler

Borage

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Sources & citations