BASIL

edgeoftheworld.....be careful that you don't divulge your friends location that grows an ENTIRE acre of chocolate basil. they might wake up one morning to nothing but an acre of dirt!

That's how it starts... wanting to plant 2 or 3 different basils because the first one you tried was so wonderful... it leads to a dozen "must grow" varieties each year, LOL!

(Don't say you weren't warned.)

:-)

Ah - Plant addiction!

Yes - they are warning me about this on the hibiscus blog as well !!!

Well - now I have to have 3. One to replace the sweet basil by the pool, then one for each end of the tomato garden....

I'm hooked!

texasrockgarden, my 2 Greek Columnar Basil plants came today, and they are the most beautiful mail order plants I have ever seen- and at the price of $2.50 each- incredible. I will be ordering many more herbs from them- http://www.rosesandherbs.com/ in case you need the link.

mjs ponies,actually we are not that good of friends.Last time he came by,he drank my last 2 beers.I do have a house payment coming up the first of the month.For the right price,I will give you exact directions.It would serve him right.Edge

how about I bring a six pack to your house and we raid his chocolate basil field in the middle of the night!!
now I'm rummaging thru seeds to see what other basils I have and Seminole Springs Antique Rose & Herb Farm farm is about 40 minutes from me think I'm going to have to take a drive over there this week...if I can get out from under all this transplanting for an afternoon cause ya know you can't just go and not look at EVERYTHING !
AND leave my credit card at home....................


This message was edited Mar 15, 2009 7:46 AM

Jill,
Thanks for the Sumatran "Hot and Spicy" Basil. What a treasure!

I hope it grows out true! No reason why it shouldn't, but I'm still wincing over the "Greek Basil" seeds I sent out a couple of years ago... isolated the plants, got a lot of good mature seed, and then it didn't grow out with anything close to the right flavor! My fingers are crossed...

I found this table last year and often refer to it. So far I love the lime basil and genovese. I haven't tried too many varieties though.

http://earthnotes.tripod.com/basil_h.htm

Neat table. Be sure and check out the "C's"

BASIL VARIETIES TABLE
There are basically three types of basil - annual (A), tender perennial (TP) (treated as annuals or pot plants in the north) and (HP) hardy perennial (only one variety). All require full sun and rich soil. Most are used for culinary purposes, except where noted. All are susceptible to fusarium.

African Blue Ocimum 'African Blue' (TP) Large, attractive purplish-blue leaves on tall plant. Leaf veins, flower spikes and stems are purple. Sweet camphor scent. Possible hybrid between dark opal basil and one of the camphor basils. Does not grow from seed, but does reproduce readily from cuttings.

Anise (or licorice) O. b. 'Anise' (A) Strong anise fragrance. Light purple flowers.

Ararat O.b. 'Ararat' (A) Foliage splashed with purple markings. Sweet flavor with licorice overtones.


Ball O. 'Tufted' (A) Nice compact form with purple flowers.

Bush O.b. minimum (A) Dwarf form, small leaves. Good in pots.

Bush, Greek O.b. minimum (A) Improved variety of 'Bush' with tight compact growing habit. Good pot plant.

Camphor O. kilimandescharicum (TP) Strong camphor odor. White flowers. Not a culinary variety, but used medicinally and as a commercial source of camphor.

Cinnamon O.b. 'Cinnamomum' (A) Distinct cinnamon aroma. Sprigs placed in vases to ward off insects at the table (Mexico). Pink flowers.

Chocolate O.b. ‘Nestle' (HP) Brown flowers. Grows only in S. Alabama and subject to severe predation by Bigfoot and Loch Nestle.

Cuban O.b. 'Cuban' (TP) White flowers.

Dark Opal O.b. 'Dark Opal' (A) Dark purple leaves. Especially attractive made up as vinegar. Developed at the Univ. of Connecticutt in 1962.

Dwarf Bouquet O.b. 'D.B.' (A) White flowers.

Dwarf Fino Verde O.b. 'Fino Verde' (A)

Dwarf Italian Ocimum 'D.I' (A) White flowers.

East Indian O. gratissimum (TP) Large, greyish-green, velvety leaves with clove scent and spicy flavor. Used in India as a cold remedy.

Fino Verde O.b. 'Piccolo F.V.' (A) Fine leaved variety excellent for all basil uses. Makes great pesto.

Genova O. americanum 'Genoa profumatissima' (A) Also known as Perfume Basil.

Genovese O.b. 'Genovese' (A) Well known for making pesto. Two varieties are – Special Select FT (Richter's exclusive) and Compatto FT (Richter's exclusive), a compact form.

Green Globe O.b. minimum 'G. G.' (A) Excellent variety of the Italian globular form. Very dense 'heads' 20 to 28 inches across. Spicy flavor. Good in pots.

Green Ruffles O.b. 'G.R.' (A)

Holly's Painted O.b. 'H.P.' (A) Unusual variegated leaves. Pink flowers.

Holy Basil O. sanctum (A) Used in salads and cold dishes; not used in cooking. Name often applied incorrectly to Spice Basil. Holy basil has a unique 'Juicy Fruit'-type aroma. There are green (O. tenuiflorum) and purple (O.s. purpureum 'Tulsi') varieties.

Lemon O. americanum (A) Compact bush type. Good for tea and potpourri.

Lemon O.b. citriodora (A) White flowers. Seeds are made into a tonic drink.

Lemon, Mrs. Burns O.b. 'Mrs. Burns' (A) Larger and more robust than the type, up to 3 feet. White flowers.

Lemon, Sweet Dani O.b. 'S.D.' (A) Improved lemon variety, high in essential oil and citral content. White flowers.

Lesbos O.b. 'Lesbos' (A) Unusual combination of spice, floral and citrus aroma. Height to 40 inches. Also known as 'Aussie Sweetie'.

Lettuce Leaf O.b. crispum (A) Similar to, but better flavor and aroma than Mammoth. White flowers. Used as a cold remedy in Japan.

Lime O. americanum (A) Lime-scented. White flowers.
Mammoth O. basilicum (A) Excellent variety of sweet basil with very large leaves.

Mexican Spice O.b. 'M.S.' (A) Grown for fragrance and aroma and as an ornamental. Pink flowers.

Miniature O.b. 'Minimum' (TP) White flowers.

Napoletano O.b. 'N.' (A) White flowers.

Nufar F1 O.b. 'Nufar' (A) Fusarium resistant variety of Genovese type sweet basil.

Osmin Purple O.b. 'O.P.' (A) Darkest purple of the basils. Height to 20 inches.

Puerto Rican Ocimum 'P.R.' (A) White flowers.

Puerto Rican, Miniature O.b.'M.P.R.' (A) White flowers.

Purple O.b. 'Purpurascens' (A) Pink flowers.

Purple Bush O. 'Purple Bush' (A) Dwarf, compact growth with purple-green leaves. Good in pots and for hedging.

Purple Delight O.b. 'P.D.' (A) More robust in growth than 'Rubin'.

Purple Ruffles O.b. 'P.R.' (A) Dark purple leaves heavily ruffled and fringed. Pink flowers.

Rubin O.b. 'Rubin' (A) Improvement over 'Dark Opal' (very little green). Pink flowers.

Siam Queen Ocimum sp. 'S.Q.' (A) Variety of Thai Basil. Deep purple inflorescences above dark green leaves. An anise aroma and flavor.

Spice Basil O.a. 'S' (A) Possible hybrid between O. canum and O. basilicum. Lavender flowers.

Spicy Globe O.b. minimum 'S. G.' (A) Uniform, dense globular form with larger leaves than the type. White flowers. Excellent in pots for the windowsill garden.

Sweet Basil O. basilicum (A) Best known basil for culinary use. White flowers.

Sweet Fine O.a. 'S.F.' (A) White flowers.

Sweet Salad(TM) O.basilicum (A) Medium-size leaf. Leading commercial variety. Dries without turning black.

Sweet Thai O.b. 'S.T.' (A)

Thai O.b. thyrsiflora (A) Variety used in Vietnamese and Thai cooking. Lavender flowers.

Thai Magic O.b. 'T.M.' (A)

Thai Seed O. citriodora 'Thai' (A) White flowers.

Well-Sweep Purple Miniature O.b. 'Minimum Purpurascens Well-Sweep (A) Diminutive form of Purple Basil exclusive to Well-Sweep Herb Farm. Pink flowers.

That is a pretty awesome link.... I need to save it.....

Vort, I can see at least one on that list that is a gotta-have! Hee hee...

Are you growing out all those?!

I wonder if "Spice Basil" is the same as the "Blue Spice" basil I'm trying this year...

This message was edited Mar 19, 2009 4:45 AM

No critter-just copied that list.
Spice Basil has lavender flowers and Blue Spice has purple-so they must be different

that's just the table from this link

http://earthnotes.tripod.com/basil_h.htm

my problem this time of year is just getting it to grow faster than I use it--which is a lot.
=)

purple vs. blue vs. lavender is a distinction that's a bit in the eye of the beholder... If you grow out "Spice" this year, you'll have to compare it to the "Blue Spice" you got from me. :-)

DMJ - You're already using it? No fair.

I finally dug up what was my 4 foot basil and replanted. The tiny basil in it's place just looks so.......

cute?

small.....

Debbie,

What do you use all that basil for? Got any good recipes? I just love basil and am going to try to grow some this year.

Sarah

Found this interesting:
Leaves of several different basil varieties: From left to right Mediterranean (sweet) basil, African Blue, lemon basil (O. americanum), spice basil, Thai basil (Siam Queen) and tree basil (O. gratissimum), upper and lower sides.

critter,
Enlarge the pic and all leaves will show--perhaps we can compare the "Spice" with your
Blue Spice---I cannot find "Spice" seeds

I found the seeds. I may bankrupt myself this year. Glad we don't have debtor's prison.

My faves come and go. I almost always favorite is spicy globe. Im growing lettuce leaf this year. I agree with the above - cinnamon didn't do that much for me but I do often use a spoon full of cinnamon along with basil in recipes.

Yes-- we've been above freezing here for a good solid month. It's just not hot enough for exponential basil growth yet.

I eat a lot of pasta (whole wheat spaghetti or feteccini (sp eludes me--math, science person) where I will take the basil and chop finely put into a small bowl with some EVOO (to steal a line from rachel ray), minced or finely chopped garlic and let it sit there a few minutes while cooking pasta. There's a lot of things you can add depending on what's available but always mozerella cheese and fresh 3 cheese blend (romano, parmeson, and something else)--these melt while pasta is hot and garlic and basil adheres to the cheese. Here's where you add what you have (I use whatever came in the organic coop or I grow--what I grow is limited this early). I added really thin slice zuchinni last night zapped in microwave for 3 minutes in those new zap the vegetables bags you can buy over by the baggies--because that's what I had. It tasted good enough; and it came in this week's organic share. What's really good to add is tomatoes and thin julienned bell peppers--you can add anything to the basic recipe except probably not onions. I also put some sweet marjoram in there with the basil because I can't cut all my basil before it gets going good.

I don't eat meat--I also use it a lot in wraps (which I eat instead of sandwiches).

I've discovered basil is not as flavorful this early either--but sure beats nothing.
Debbie

I am vegetarian also. I make a version of this on 1/2 bagel or a slice of 9 grain bread. I put on chopped dried tomato, and dried pepper and usually scallions. eevo and a tsp. of dried basil.

This is the winter version. You can use fresh in the summer time.

I bake the whole thing on a grill or griddle with a domed lid. So it comes out toasty and gooey.

I do brushetta too (I know the spelling is way off)

Debbie, the way you grow plants, who cares about spelling? By the way, since I don't watch Rachel Ray, what's EVOO?

Thx.

Sarah

extra virgin olive oil--I try to avoid her myself, but sometimes you have to watch the food channel in the winter for something to do

Ahhh. Thanks. That's the only type of oil I cook with.

Mrs-Ed,
You are too reasonable for this "day and time" :)

My sweet marjoram, which I thought I had killed....is growing like crazy....

Someone sent me directions to freeze basil....do you think I can freeze my parsley?

Thought I had killed it....but now it's huge....but read that it will die off again after April....

Are there any Basil varieties that are more pungent than others? I am planting basil this year at either side of my tomato garden to keep out the bugs...

columnar basil is real pungent to me--that Greek columnar. But it's saving grace is it doesn't go to seed at an exponential rate like the others do (must successively sow down here in summer)

Thanks DMJ....

Seems that LA Nursery had something called a Greek Basil....I love my greek oregano so greek basil caught my eye....

I had considered some of the purple basils - just to 'be different'....but those seem low growing and to me....to keep buys away I'll need some height...

So I'm thinking columnar would provide that.

I have Lemon Basil at the other end of the tomato garden....

now that's just my opinion--taste is subjective, I just prefer Italian basils
=)

Oops - I meant to "Keep bugs away"....in the above....

Do you like the Italian Basil more than the sweet basil? I had enough basil for 3 families last year....and I hate throwing it away...but decided to plant 2 extra in the tomato garden..

I did see Italian Basil at the nursery...it was larger than all the other Basils....so maybe it would grow taller.....

Genovese is a sweet basil--so is large leaf

They all have different uses for me

spicy globe is quite pungent

Planted Sweet Basil by the pool. Have to watch it....looks like worms are getting there...

Lemon Basil at the north side of the vegetable garden. Greek Basil at the South side.

If worms are a problem - do I do the whole Beer- in - a - can - trick?

Worms aren't a problem (they're good critters for gardens), but if slugs are munching your basil, there are several solutions (hand picking to slug baits)... a dish of beer just seems to make a mess in my garden without killing any, but YMMV.

Oops - I shouldn't have said "worms"....I think what might be getting them are these tiny yellow "worm" looking caterpillars that are coming out of the huge oak tree's on a tiny web-like thread...

a few weeks ago you'd have thought spiderman came through the backyard....threads were everywhere.

BUT I am a beginner...I could be wrong ...it could be a completely different insect....