Photo of the Day: Thai Basil

Unlike its Mediterranean cousins, my Thai basil (Ocimum basillicum) seems to be getting along just fine in the cold and wet of November. I don’t recall what the original source for this seed was, but the plants grow 12″ – 18″ tall and produce purple flowers with a sweet spice aroma that reminds me of clove or cinnamon. I grow two batches of this each year, the first I start in late winter / early spring, and the second I start in late summer using the seed collected from the spring batch. This is the 6th year (12th batch) and I get the feeling that the bees may have crossed it with Genovese basil from the other side of the yard because this batch has lost some of the clove and punched up the licorice flavor. No matter, it’s still a great looking plant.