When to Plant Borage in Melbourne, Cool Temperate Guide
Sow March to April and September to December. Right now in October you can sow.
Grow Borage in your space
- Planting window
- Frost-hardy annual that self-seeds freely. Sow in spring for summer flowers or in autumn for an early spring show.
- Days to harvest
- 56 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade. Flowers best in full sun.
- Water needs
- Moderate watering. Drought tolerant once established. Overwatering causes lanky, floppy...
- Spacing
- 30cm apart, 45cm between rows
- Soil pH
- 6.0-7.0
Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
This Borage guide is written for the Cool Temperate zone, which takes in Melbourne, Hobart and Geelong. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Sydney Canberra Alice Springs Perth
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A hardy annual herb with stunning blue star-shaped flowers and cucumber-flavoured leaves. Excellent companion plant and pollinator attractor. Self-sows prolifically once established. Both flowers and young leaves are edible. One of the easiest herbs to grow in Australia.
See what grows now in your own postcode
Planting Calendar for Cool Temperate
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | D | D | - | - | - | - | S/D | S/T/D | T/D | D |
S = Seed Tray T = Transplant D = Direct Sow
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Current Growing Conditions
Soil temperature: 14.9°C (optimal range: 10–25°C) ✓ Ready to plant
Modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Melbourne), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like
In October the Cool Temperate zone normally runs 19°C by day and 8°C overnight, with about 67 mm of rain over 9 or 10 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -3.0°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 28 postcodes, SILO.
How to Grow Borage in Cool Temperate Australia
When to Plant
Frost-hardy annual that self-seeds freely. Sow in spring for summer flowers or in autumn for an early spring show.
- Soil
- Any well-drained soil, even poor soils. Tolerant of a wide range of conditions.
- pH Range
- 6.0-7.0
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade. Flowers best in full sun.
- Spacing
- 30cm apart, 45cm between rows
- Watering
- Moderate watering. Drought tolerant once established. Overwatering causes lanky, floppy growth.
Companion plants: Tomato, Strawberry, Squash, Brassicas
Cool Temperate Growing Tips for Borage
Recommended Varieties
- Standard Borago officinalis
Key Challenges
- Shorter season
- Frost kills plants
Pro Tips
- Excellent performer in this zone
- Self-sows and returns each spring once established
Harvesting Borage
When ready: Harvest young leaves before flowering for best flavour. Pick flowers when fully open. They should pop off easily.
How to harvest: Pick young tender leaves from top of plant. Pluck individual flowers by pinching stem behind flower. Older leaves become hairy and unpalatable.
Common Borage Pests in Cool Temperate Zones
Aphids and Whitefly, risk: MODERATE (score: 46/100)Organic prevention (Aphids): Borage is more often a pest SOLUTION than a pest problem. It attracts hoverflies and parasitic wasps that control aphids on nearby crops.
Where to next
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Open the planting dashboard Join GardenBuddy.auCommon Questions About Borage
When do you plant borage in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): Apr to Aug
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Mar to Jun, Aug to Nov
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Mar to May, Aug to Oct
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Mar to Apr, Sep to Dec
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Sep to Dec
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Mar to May, Aug to Sep
- Mediterranean (Perth): Mar to May, Aug to Sep
Does borage grow all year round in Melbourne?
No. In the Cool Temperate zone the planting months are Mar to Apr, Sep to Dec. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
Which zone am I in?
Type your postcode into the box under the heading and the page tells you, and links this crop in your own zone if it differs. Or look it up on the grow zone map. This page is the Cool Temperate zone, Melbourne is its reference city.