Sweet basil
Genovese Basil
In season
The classic pesto basil — big fragrant leaves, best planted once our nights warm up.
- Sunlight: full sun
- Water: moderate
- Season: Plant out after frost (early June); harvest all summer
- Price: $4–$7
Genovese is the basil you want for pesto, caprese, and a windowsill that smells like summer. It produces large, sweet, fragrant leaves on a tidy plant, and the more you pick, the more it makes. Basil is frost-tender and sulks in cold soil, so it's one to plant out a little later than the rest — early June, once nights have warmed — or to keep in a sunny pot you can move. Pinch the tops regularly to keep it bushy and to delay flowering.