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Gardening | Plant ID
Basil varieties offer diverse flavors and scents
Herb Gardening
This year we have expanded the varieties of herbs we are growing. Sweet basil is so easy to grow in our 7b-8a hardiness zone garden. This basil cultivar is the best choice for anything Italian like soups, sauces, and pesto. Other varieties include Italian large leaf, lettuce leaf, Genovese, and Napoletano basil. Plants height is 14 to 30 inches tall. They are prolific in hot, sunny locations.
If you harvest the top four leaves often, the plant will continue growing and producing the best sweetly flavored leaves for culinary use. These are the varieties of basil we are having success with so far: sweet basil, Aristotle, African blue basil, lemon basil, lime basil, cinnamon basil, lettuce leaf basil, Thai basil, spicy bush basil, and purple ruffles basil.
Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Growing Basil
Basil is an easy to grow and often used culinary herb. Mediterranean food is now becoming a very healthy choice for people watching their diet. Place in a sunny spot with good soil.
African blue basil
Ocimum kilimandscharicum × basilicum
African blue basil is a sterile perennial hybrid, with purple coloration on its leaves and containing a strong portion of actual camphor in its scent. This basil species is native to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
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Cinnamon basil (Mexican spice basil)
Ocimum basilicum 'Cinnamon'
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Also called Mexican spice basil, with a strong scent of cinnamate, the same chemical found in cinnamon.
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Lettuce leaf basil
Ocimum basilicum 'Lettuce Leaf'
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The lettuce leaf basil has leaves so large they are sometimes used in salads.
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Thai basil
Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflorum
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The Thai basil has a scent of licorice, small to medium leaves and purple flowers
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Lemon basil
Ocimum americanum
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Lemon basil contains citral and limonene, and smells very lemony. It has a sweet flavor. It can be found under alternative names, hoary basil or Indonesian basil.
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Lime basil
Ocimum americanum
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The Minimus Basil
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Aristotle basil (Ocimum minimum 'Aristotle')
rounded bush form with small delicate leaves
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Neat, compact mounds of small leaves with a most delicious flavour make Basil 'Aristotle' a stunning ornamental, edible pot plant. The aromatic foliage adds flavour to all manner of dishes, particularly Italian recipes. This Greek basil is perfect for growing on the kitchen windowsill or in containers outside the back door. Height: 20 inches.
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