Ocimum, Greek Column Basil 'Lesbos'

This is an excellent plant for containers. It didn't get as large as some are saying. Only about 18 inches, but then I was harvesting a l...Read Moreot. Even in the high desert, it took the 100-plus heat and even withstood colder temperatures well into November, far longer than my other basils.
I originally found it at Kroger in Albuquerque, of all places. I had no idea how hard it would be to find again, or I would have rooted one indoors over the winter.
It roots in water on the windowsill in a matter of days from woody cuttings. I cut some for cooking and stuck the leftover stalks in a jar of water until I could use the rest. 2 days later I saw roots! I was potting it up and giving it away to everyone I know. Unfortunately, none of us brought it inside for the winter!
So full of flavor. Works in Thai and Italian dishes, fresh and dried. The pesto I made from it with local pinon (pine) nuts was out of this world. And I found it really easy to harvest, just stripping the woody stalks like I would rosemary.
Like someone else said, if I could only have one basil, it would be this one.

It's not a plant, it's a shrub!

Growing one using one of those cheap-o tomato cages for support. Plant has completely out...Read Moregrown the cage and is now a little over 40 inches tall.

I took a cutting last fall from a neighbor's plant and easily grew it indoors and from that plant took cutting to create three more plants to give away. The one neighbor growing it in a pot has a much smaller plant of course that seems to be doing okay with no support.

2017 update. Plant is flowering which is a first for me. I assume the seeds will be sterile but I will try and collect some and see if any will sprout.

pot it,place it in the sun . water about every third day.

most importantly.....Leave it alone!!! The heat doesn't bother...Read More it even here in Tampa.

This basil is a mainstay every year in the Herb Garden at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. It has good basil flavor and produces abundant fol...Read Moreiage on tall columnar plants. I take cuttings before first frost each year and easily root them in sterile potting mix in the greenhouse. By spring I have good-sized gallon plants to put back in the garden for the warm seasons. If I could have only ONE type of basil (and I normally grow around ten different types) this would be it.