Native American Indians used this tea for respiratory problems. Birds enjoy eating the seeds in the fall. Grow in any well drained soil. Will even grow in cracks. Grow in full sun to partial shade.
Basils are tender perennials, heat loving and frost shy.
They are usually grown as annuals, but can be kept alive for years grown in containers that are kept frost free. Native to SE Asia, they have been grown in American gardens since before 1600. Folklore has it that you are supposed to slam the seeds onto the earth, curse them and dare them not to grow. Basil seeds do need to be in tight contact with the soil. Their seed coats contain a mucilage, and the first time they get wet, the seeds will float to the surface and exude a white bubbly gel, like egg whites.