9 Unusual Basil Varieties to Plant This Spring
Basil is a favorite summer herb for its bundles of tender leaves, bright flavor, and easy growth. The more you harvest, the greater the rewards. Join garden expert Katherine Rowe in distinctive and unusual basil varieties to add culinary flair and ornament to liven up the edible landscape.
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Basil is a warm-season herb that comes in many unusual varieties beyond the common Italian types. They’re perfect to harvest in bunches for a fresh taste of summer. Ocimum basilicum grows vigorously as spring’s temperatures turn toward summer. Plants produce loads of flavorful and aromatic leaves for a continual harvest. You can even sow a successional round to ensure a fresh crop all season, as the original specimens get woody stems or bolt (flower and seed).
Basil is an attractive herb for the edible landscape, raised bed, or pot. It even grows indoors year-round in the right situation and with a bit of luck. Depending on the variety, plants feature broad, fresh green leaves or narrow, deep green ones, and even beautiful purple shades. Basil likely originates in India and has traveled the world to become prominent in Italian and Thai dishes.
Several types and cultivars lend different forms, flavors, and culinary applications. Italian basils, like ‘Genovese’, have large, sweet leaves. while Thai basil has narrower leaves that carry a bit of licorice or anise flavor.
Grow basil in full sun with organically rich, well-draining soil and harvest leaves regularly. Pinch off bloom spikes to retain the best flavor, as the blooms take energy from the leaves. Basil is tender and dies back with light frost. It’s one of the easiest herbs to grow, with prolific results and versatile uses.
‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 24-36” |
’Everleaf Emerald Towers’ has a unique upright, columnar habit that makes it ideal for tucking in raised beds and pots. Dense and leafy, it spreads 8 to 12 inches as it reaches skyward.
‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’ delays flowering until later in the season, meaning flavorful leaves with less pinching and deadheading. Side by side with traditional sweet basil, you’ll be seeing early blooms well before ‘Emerald Towers’ bolts (up to 8 weeks earlier).
‘Emerald Towers’ is well-branched with short stems to retain the robust, tidy habit. Harvest leaves regularly to promote new growth. The robust variety resists Fusarium wilt and downy mildew.
‘Lemon’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Lemon’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 8-16” |
Lemon basil adds a splash with citrus notes and a tangy flavor and aroma. Even the narrow, lime green leaves brighten up the edible arrangement. Compact and bushy with short stems, ‘Lemon’ has a low, spreading habit at 20 inches wide.
Also called Thai lemon basil or Lao basil, it’s a traditional complement in Southeast Asian cuisine. Use it also to flavor vinaigrettes, cocktails, seafood, and any other creative culinary endeavors. Pinch a leaf for a pop of aromatherapy and the scent of summer.
‘Piccolino’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Piccolino’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 8-12” |
‘Piccolino’ is one of the cutest and most unusual basil varieties in that it’s among the smallest. Ornamental and edible, it forms a soft mound full of petite leaves to round out a pot or bed edge.
The darling herbs withstand heat and humidity and are fast to mature, ready in about 50 days from seed. With a mild peppery, sweet flavor, they’re delicious added to salads and as fresh garnishes in addition to pestos, soups, and cooked dishes.
Tulsi
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botanical name Ocimum spp. |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 24” |
Tulsi is a holy basil with unique properties. A sacred selection in Hinduism, tulsi is revered for its historic ayurvedic use for improved health, including stress relief as an adaptogen, especially in teas. Wild qualities include its clove, pepper, and fruit scent, and lilac-pink blooms.
Spicy and fruity, tulsi makes an aromatic tea or bath soak. After flowering, it may reseed without pinching. Tulsi holy basil is frost-tolerant, making for an extended season.
‘Lettuce Leaf’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Lettuce Leaf’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 16-18” |
For a full-flavored, textural basil experience, look to ‘Lettuce Leaf.’ Broad, six-inch-long leaves have delicate, bite-worthy crinkles. Add ‘Lettuce Leaf’ to salads or use it as a wrap to capture dressing while adding classic basil flavor.
‘Lettuce Leaf’ is highly productive and slow to bolt. The leaves of this unusual basil variety capture attention in the container and the plate, and the sweet flavor makes us go back for more (though true basil lovers will appreciate these sizeable leaves the most).
‘Cardinal’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Cardinal’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 24” |
‘Cardinal’ is an unusual basil variety for its showmanship. It boasts big, purple-red blooms among lush, densely-packed, bright green leaves. New growth shows burgundy tinges among the rosettes of blooms and foliage..
With an overpowering aroma, it only takes a little to flavor a dish. But the high ornament is novel, whether as an accent among others or in the vase. Unique basil varieties make dynamic bouquet additions to freshen up the look, whether for blooms or foliage.
‘Purple Petra’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Purple Petra’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 24-36” |
‘Purple Petra’ brings rich, satiny leaves with dark purple uppers and lighter undersides. The large leaves bear a mild, sweet flavor that won’t overpower a dish. If allowed to flower, look for lavender blooms in late summer.
Use the striking leaves to add an unconventional color to the bed and the meal. Or, grow it with green varieties for an expansive flavor and color profile.
‘Cinnamon’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum ‘Cinnamon’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 18-30” |
Cinnamon basil, also called Mexican spice basil, contains a compound that gives it a slight cinnamon flavor. Highly aromatic, it may even help to repel mosquitoes (though you’d probably have to grow loads of it). Grow boldly fragrant varieties in pots and along borders near seating areas to test the repellent theory.
Cinnamon basil has dark green leaves with light venation in purple-red. Stems are royal purple and complement the lavender-pink blooms. Pair ‘Cinnamon’ with lemon basil and Thai sweet varieties for an assortment of spice, citrus, and anise notes from which to choose.
‘Purple Ruffles’
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botanical name Ocimum basilicum var. purpurascens ‘Purple Ruffles’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 18” |
‘Purple Ruffles’ is another dark-leaved variety and an All-America Selections winner for its striking foliage that is textural with serrated margins and a ruffly, crinkled effect. In shades of shiny purple, the large, fringy foliage is both ornamental and flavorful.
Use ‘Purple Ruffles’ in planters to contrast green herbs and flowering annuals (edible selections like calendula and marigolds would be lovely). Or use it as a bedding plant for grouped color and a ready harvest. In the kitchen, add drama as a garnish, in pestos, or cooked in soups and pastas.
Look for ‘Amethyst Improved’ for a near-black basil with smooth, glossy, down-turned leaves. Venation gives pattern and texture, but it’s the rich, distinct color that makes this one stand out.
