African Blue Basil

Ornamental Features:

African Blue Basil features beautiful spikes of pink flowers with purple calyces rising above the foliage in mid summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. It's attractive fragrant oval leaves emerge deep purple in spring, turning bluish-green in colour with distinctive purple veins the rest of the year. The fruit is not ornamentally significant. The dark red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes:

African Blue Basil is an herbaceous evergreen annual bedding plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a high maintenance annual bedding plant that will require regular care and upkeep, and can be pruned at anytime. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

African Blue Basil is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Herb Gardens
• Container Planting
• General Garden Use
• Mass Planting
• Border Edging

Plant Characteristics:

African Blue Basil will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity extending to 24 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year.

This annual bedding plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This plant can be propagated by cuttings.

This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.