Sweet Basil Ocimum basilicum

LATIN NAME: Ocimum basilicum

COMMON NAME: Sweet Basil

The sweet basil is the green scent of the summer kitchen, and the small, white flowers open in the loose spikes above the glossy leaves. The upright, bushy, annual herb carries the oval, glossy, bright-green leaves and the loose spikes of the small, white, two-lipped flowers through the late summer, one of the fine, generous sights of the herb garden. The leaves have a very long record as the fine, fragrant herb of the warm tables, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the kitchen garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, rich ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The sweet basil is a historic subject of the plant science, and the glossy leaves keep showing up in the work on the culinary herbs. The chemistry of the leaves, which carry the fine, fragrant oils of the warm kitchens, has been studied at length, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the culinary herbs, the fragrant oils and the members of the mint family. The oval, glossy leaves and the bushy habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the sweet basil is a regular subject of the work on the green scents of the warm world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The sweet basil is a fine, generous plant of the herb garden and the summer kitchen. The oval, glossy, bright-green leaves have a very long record as the fine, fragrant herb of the warm tables, the fresh leaves torn into the pesto, the salads and the tomato pots of the summer kitchen, and the loose spikes of the small, white, two-lipped flowers open through the late summer, drawing the bees. The plant is one of the fine choices for the herb garden, the pot and the window box, and it has been written up in the culinary and the botanical papers for the green scents and the very long history. It is a fine, generous plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, rich garden.

Pinch out the growing tips through the early season, and the plants will bush out into the fine, full mounds.

To grow the sweet basil from seed, sow the small, round seeds a couple of centimetres down in a tray of coarse, free-draining soil, keep the tray in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out after the last frosts. The seedlings are up within a week or two and grow on fast. With the sun, the warmth and the deep, moist, rich ground, the green scent will come through the summer.