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| Hi All,
Have Copernic searched for image of Borage seed, tried The Seed Site . . now coming to GW's community of experience for aid. Where are the seeds of Borage - Borago officinalis? What's the best way to clean and store them? Received these from generous, experienced gardener but her ISP's down. Thanks in advance,
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Katie- I ordered some Borage seeds and they are pretty big-probably the size of Morning Glory seeds, just shaped differently. As for where they are within the flower, I have no idea. (I'm assuming that's what you needed to know :) |
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- Posted by naturegirl_2007 Michigan (My Page) on Fri, Nov 30, 07 at 21:00
| Since there is no answer to this post I'll give it a try, although I'm not sure I'll use all the proper terms. I saved borage seed this year. After the flowers fade, they close up and hang down. The seeds can be seen if you look inside the closed up sepals (?) several days later. The outer covering will still be green, not dried up and brown. At first the seeds inside are green and then turn black/brown. They are good size (about 1/4 inch) and not hard to spot, about the size of half a TicTac mint. They are shaped like an urn, kinda barrel-like with one mushed end. Some flowers had 4 seeds, I think, but most did not seem to develop all four. Also, the seeds drop out very quickly. I'm not sure many remain attached until dark....else I don't check often enough. I wondered if I could collect them while green and let them dry and mature off the plant. I haven't tried that though. If you have lots of plants and are cutting some back, try beating the cutting on a light colored cloth and you are likely to find some seeds. That was easier for me than inspecting individual dead flowerheads. I think I have some photos of the "dead" flowers (actually I was photographing the live ones ;) ). I'll take a look and may post them later f they show anything that may help. Borage self seeds heavily in my Michigan garden. Some start growing the same year, others sprout the following spring. The early growth reminds me of pumpkin or squash sprouts, only hairy. Sometimes I think the seedlings are thistles cause they looks so prickly. I've finally learned not to pull them all out :) This year some of mine had purple and pink flowers on the same plant. A few even had white flowers. I don't remember if those plants were all white or if they had pink or purple, also. They are all beautiful. Good luck with your seed collecting. |
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- Posted by naturegirl_2007 MIchigan (My Page) on Fri, Nov 30, 07 at 22:07
I found the photo. Look at the closed flower above and to the right of the one in bloom. Similar ones should be found all along the stem below the part now in bloom. As you work your way down the stem, look inside each one. You will find very immature seeds in the ones near the top. The seeds you want will be part way down. The bottom closed flowers will most likely have already released their seeds.  The seeds look like this....a bit smaller and differently shaped than I remembered.
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