Basil is America’s most popular herb, and for many of us, that means the familiar Sweet or Genovese Basil and its use in Italian and French cuisines. But there is a broader world of basils out there – different varieties, flavors, leaf sizes, and colors. Basils are important to many different cultures around the globe – beautiful garden basils; pollinator-attracting basils; and basils grown for function, for fragrance, and even for bouquets. Join Extension Master Gardeners Kathryn Kellam and Susan Wilhelm as they introduce you to a wider world of basils and explain how to care for, harvest, use, and preserve exciting new basils as well as familiar favorites.
Zoom session, recorded May 13, 2022
Additional Resources
Basils for Flavor, Fragrance and Flowers – Basil varieties mentioned in the video.
General
- Basil flowers are edible and can make attractive garnishes.
- Lettuce-leaf basils have milder flavor than standard sweet or Genovese basil.
- All sweet or Genovese basils are highly susceptible to basil downy mildew (BDM).
- Other basils flavors such as anise and lemon tend to be BDM-resistant.
- Red and purple basils can have duller flavors than green; may be more BDM resistant.
- African basils provide genetic diversity to help counter BDM.
Classic Basil Flavor
Standard
- Standard
- Genovese – The sweet basil flavor most familiar to Americans; tall, relatively slow to bolt
- Everleaf Emerald Towers – Tidy, well-branched, very slow to flower; focus is on leaf production
- Tuscany –Lettuce-leaf type, mild flavor, some downy mildew tolerance in Johnny’s field trials
- Red Rubin – Dark purple Italian large-leaf basil with purple flowers and purple-copper leaves
- Amethyst – Purple to near-black color; purple flowers and red leaves make attractive garnish
- Prospera® – Downy mildew and Fusarium resistant line of basils
- Rutgers Obsession DMR – Downy mildew and Fusarium resistant
- Rutgers Devotion DMR – Downy mildew resistant
- Containers
- Genovese Compact, Improved – Standard Genovese type for containers
- Emily – Compact classic Genovese type, high leaf-to-stem ratio
- Mammolo – Bushy; high leaf-to-stem ratio, compact growth habit
- ‘Pesto Perpetuo’ – Non-flowering, ornamental with variegated leaves, hints of lemon
- Prospera Compact – Compact Genovese type with downy mildew and Fusarium resistance
- Crimson King – 100% purple, no green shoots, nice flavor
- Windowboxes & Edging
- Windowbox Mini Basil – From Italy, 8-10” tall, fragrant and ornamental
- Marseillais Dwarf – From France, intense basil flavor, 12” tall
- Fino Verde – Spicy-sweet flavor, 8-12″ tall, compact and rounded form
- Boxwood – Same size and structure as Fino Verde
- Pluto – Spicy-sweet Greek basil flavor, 6-8” tall, perfectly fills a 3-6″ pot
- ‘Round Midnight – Bushy 1′-tall plants, fragrant, burgundy leaves have silvery shimmer
- Purple Ball Basil – Ball of tiny, deep purple leaves, 1’ tall, nice flavor
Citrus & Mint Flavor
- Lemon – (O. citriodora) Native of India. Bold aroma, lemon flavor with pepper
- Lime – (O. americanum) Darker green leaves, lime zest flavor, less fruity
- Mrs. Burns’ Lemon – (O. citriodora) [New Mexico heirloom] Fresh, light lemon flavor with mint
- Reyhan (Persian) – Variegated leaves, flowers; minty with classic flavor
- Chinese Sweet – Light fragrance, lemon and floral flavor, not sharp; tender stems
Anise & Cinnamon Flavor
- Thai Sweet – Sweet, spicy flavor, classic to Thai and Vietnamese cuisines, 12-18”
- Thai Siam Queen – Larger bright green leaves, ornamental flower cones, flavorful, 18”
- Everleaf Thai Towers – Large leaves, flowers 10-12 weeks later than Sweet Thai basil, 24”
- Cardinal – Ornamental and fragrant, anise flavor seemed harsh, 18”
- Cinnamon (aka Mexican Spice) – Ornamental heirloom, no cinnamon detected, 26–30″
- Aromatto – Ornamental foliage, dark purple flowers, spicy fragrance
Holy (Tulsi)
- Green (called white or Lakshmi tulsi) and Purple (called black or Krishna tulsi) varieties hold a
prominent place in the Hindu religion and are used interchangeably
Spice
- Sweet clove fragrance and flavor; mistakenly called “holy,” “sacred,” “tulsi”
- Spice and Blue Spice are very similar, possibly the same variety
African
- African Nunum (Ghana) – vegetal rather than basil flavor; impressive antibiotic qualities
- Akoko Mesa (Ghana) means “chicken dance” – a popular spice for cooking poultry
- Eritrean (Eritrea) – said to be stunning in flower; classic basil flavor with subtle differences
- Mrihani (Zanzibar) – Gorgeous leaves, complex flavor; used to create Rutgers BDM-resistant
basils (African basils were also used to produce the Prospera® line of BDM-resistant basils) - African Blue hybrid – (sterile) Ornamental, bee magnet, flowers heavily throughout the season
Basils for Flowers & Foliage
- Consider African Blue, Thai Siam Queen, Cardinal, Reyhan (Persian), Aromatto, Cinnamon, and Mrs. Burns’ Lemon
Select Resources for Basil
- Appling, Shawn. Herb Culture and Use. Publication 426-420. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
- Brust, Gerald. 2021. Fusarium Wilt in Basil. University of Maryland Extension.
- Extension Master Gardener Help Desk
- Halbe, Becky. 2021. Microgreens. Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia.
- Herb Supplement – A Guide to Growing and Using Herbs. 2022. Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia.
- Herbs. William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Missouri Botanical Gardens.
- Jackey, Beverly, Cheryl Bush and Shauna C. Henley. Harvesting and Preserving Herbs. University of Maryland Extension.
- McGrath, Margaret Tuttle. 2022. Basil Downy Mildew. Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- National Center for Home Preservation
- Sanchez, Elsa and Kathy Kelley. 2007. Growing Herbs Indoors. Penn State Extension.
- Selection and Care of Herbs. University of Maryland Extension.
- Williamson, Joey. 2019. Basil Factsheet 1327. Clemson University Extension.
- Zepp, Martha. 2019. Freezing Herbs. Penn State Extension.
- Zepp, Martha and Andy Hirneisen. 2019. Let’s Preserve: Drying Herbs. Penn State Extension.