Common Name: Basil ‘African Blue’
Botanical Name: Ocimum kilimandscharicum × basilicum ‘Dark Opal’
• Type: Perennial, annual in Webster Groves area
• Height: 2 – 3 ft.
• Width: 1.5 – 2 ft.
• Habit: Shrub-like
• Flower: Dark purple spikes
• Bloom Season: All summer
• Foliage: Dark green to purple, fragrant
• Fruit: NA
• Flavor: Slightly camphor-like
• Fragrance: Camphor
• Sun: Full to partial shade
• Soil: Warm soil with a bit of compost
• Water: Average to slightly moist
• Tolerant: Drought, deer
• Attracts: Butterflies, bees
• Uses: Add flowers to sour cream, top pasta dish, float in ice trays & add to drinks. Makes a striking background or container plant.
• Harvesting: Frequent pruning, including removal of flower stalks, encourages new leaf growth, more branching & discourages flowering.
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