Sweet Basil
Sweet Basil is the most popular culinary basil. It is great for pesto, spaghetti sauce, pizza, salads, dressing, and especially for any Italian dish. It is easy to grow and will produce leaves for picking all season long. It will grow from 18 inches to 24 inches in good soil. Some good varieties include ’Genovese’, ’Italian Pesto’, and ’Profuma di Genova’.

'Magical Michael' Sweet Basil
2002 AAS Vegetable Award Winner
An ornamental, edible sweet basil with a clearly refined plant size and shape, 'Magical Michael' plants are uniform and reliably 15 inches tall and 16-17 inches wide. This uniformity is rare in sweet basil plants. The lush aromatic, green leaves can be harvested within 30 days of transplanting and are rich in essential oils for cooking. Plants may flower when mature in about 80 to 90 days from seed. The small flowers are a curiosity since the calices are purple and corollas white. They are attractive for use as a garnish, adding color to any salad.


Cinnamon Basil
Cinnamon basil has tempting scent and flavor, with attractive purple growing tips and flowers. It will grow to be 24 to 30 inches tall in good soil. Use as this herb just as you would use sweet basil. It makes a great addition to a fragrance garden. This is an annual that will need planting each year.

Lemon Basil
The petite leaves and plants of lemon basil have a fresh citrus-spice aroma! Use as a culinary herb or use as an ornamental border in the flower bed. It will grow to only about 12 inches so it makes a wonderful compact border plant. Some varieties to try include ’Mrs. Burns’

'Sweet Dani' Lemon Basil
1998 AAS Vegetable Award Winner
Lemon Basil 'Sweet Dani' Greatly improved aromatic herb desirable for culinary and ornamental use. Strong lemon scent. Easy to grow from seed or bedding plant. Best in full sun garden.


Dark Opal Ornamental Basil
This is an All America Selection winner which means it is a very high quality plant. It has regal, purple-black glossy foliage with pale pink flowers and a delicious aroma. It will grow to 18 inches. Use as a culinary herb giving the salad both good flavor and attractive appearance. This plant makes a great ornamental plant in the flower bed or as a border plant. Bees love the blossoms. Other purple basils include ’Rubin’, and ’Osmin’.

Miniature Basil
While not as useful in the kitchen, these compact basils make excellent plants for the front of a flower border. Some varieties include ’Dwarf Bouquet’, ’Piccolo’, ’Dwarf Bush Fine Leaf’, and ’Green Globe’.