Juicy tomato chunks mixed with olive oil, freshly torn basil and garlic spooned over hot pasta is a true feast. Besides having extraordinary taste, basil is incredibly easy to grow. Not only does it add grace to the herb garden or tomato planting, but the numerous shapes and sizes make excellent additions to the perennial garden, shrub border or container garden. Tuck basil into unused garden corners, display among vegetables, edge a flower garden or plant as groundcover along a path where they gently release pungent anise aroma when brushed. Smaller basil cultivars make superb edging for the perennial border, vegetable garden or handsome foliage contrast in containers of flowers.
Basil asks for nothing more in the garden than full sun and well-drained soil.
It grows quickly from seed but several varieties of transplants can be found in the herb section at your garden center. Basil thrives in our warm summer weather and excels in fall plantings as well. Most edible basils are cultivars of the species Ocimum basilicum. The smooth-leafed types that grow 2 to 3 feet tall are best known for culinary use. One of the prettiest groups of basils for the landscape is Thai basils.