I bed everyone has this problem at some time during their growing life where you plant seed after seed of a favorite plant just to have it only produce one plant which seeds so fast you can't use the leaves you planted it for in the first place.
This is exactly what happened when we planted basil last year. It grew just a little and went to seed. This year we at least had seed but we have an unjust shortage of pesto. So this year my wife planted plants and seeds.
This little boxwood basil plant is one of the many plants we now have growing. Among the others are a whole slew of purple basil and regualr basil. She didn't know if they would sprout very well in the pots so there are several pots with little sections in each one. I think they all sprouted as well as some from the seeds we didn't get that have been waiting in the dirt for spring to arrive.
One of our neighbors also brought us these other plants which she didn't know the english name for but said they worked well in fish and other dishes and that they were prolific seeders. She recommended planting them far apart so they don't cross breed.
After just a minute of looking I figured out what it is she brought. Theyare called perilla or chinese basil or mint. I guess it depends on who you ask.
Still need to put these in the ground somewhere but they're doing pretty well so far. I might even bring oue out to the community garden this weekend when we plant it out.
Perrilla is highly invasive: it spreads like crazy and can't be removed once it gets established, at least here in PA. I would think twice and do a little research before I planted it.
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