Oh no! BASIL BLIGHT!

     I wrote a brief note about basil blight last year, secure in the knowledge that it had not spread to Virginia.
But is has. To my house.
     Basil blight is a fungal disease that will kill your basil plants and spread to other basil plants through fungal spores released into the air.  I like to sow basil seeds several times a season to keep a good supply of fresh, young leaves on hand.  I ran out of seed and recently purchased new seed from a large, commercial seed house.  The plants looked great at first, then more and more sickly: pasty yellow and brown leaves.

I wondered if it could be blight. When I turned over the leaves, this is what I saw:

     See the gray patches on the backs of the leaves?  This is the grayish fungus called basil blight.  The remedy? Bag up and throw out the plants, soil and pots.  I feel lucky I don't have this in the garden (I hope I caught it early enough before it spread).
     If your basil gets puny looking, checks carefully for a gray, sooty fungal growth on the backs of the leaves and toss it out ASAP!  I wrote to the seed house, we'll see what response I get,
Happy gardening!  May your basil stay healthy!

Woody Basil

Plant in the background is past-its-prime basil, in front are new plants.

See the difference?

Over the course of the growing season, basil reaches a "woody" stage, at the time it begins to flower.  Though the leaves are ok to use in cooking at this point, they are smaller, begin to turn yellow and brown, and their full basil flavor is diminished.  This happens even if you regularly shear the plant to stimulate new growth.  So, I buy extra seeds of basil and, every three weeks, I start a new pot or two.  This keeps me in fresh, young basil leaves all summer long!  The spent basil gets dumped in the compost heap.

Happy gardening!

Basil Blight!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch out basil (and pesto) lovers- there is an outbreak of basil blight! If you see signs, act quickly!

Read about it at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128061773&sc=emaf

Happy gardening! No blight!

African Blue Basil

My favorite ornamental plant this summer ‘09 is the African Blue Basil (Ocimum ‘African Blue’). I bought it as a tiny plant, on a whim at the Ginter Botanical Garden plant sale in the spring. It is not really a culinary basil, as it tastes a bit too much like camphor - the plant has a sweet camphor scent (some sources say it can be used for cooking, but I disagree). However, it is a lovely, trouble-free ornamental for the sunny garden patch. My plant grew into a large bush over a few months, attracting many bees once the flowers began to open (and remember we are currently in a bee crisis, with colony collapse disorder, so we need to grow plants that keep these and other pollinators happy!). The leaves of the plant are green, veined with bluish purple, and the flowers are purple (and great in floral arrangements). The plant has continuously produced flowers with minimal cutting back and should do so until the first frost (it is the most cold tolerant of the basils). As a hybrid, the plant does not form true seed. So to propagate it, you will need to take cuttings. I highly recommend this ornamental- it is a pleasure!

Happy gardening!