Profumo

'Profumo' is a compact Genovese-type sweet basil, an Italian selection carried in North America by Territorial Seed; Renee's Garden lists what appears to be the same variety under its fuller Italian name, 'Profumo di Genova'. The selling point is not a new flavour but a new shape — full Genovese aroma and taste on a dense, self-mounding plant that stays roughly one to two feet tall instead of going leggy, making it one of the few genuinely container-worthy pesto basils. Both catalogs credit it with good disease resistance, though neither names a pathogen. Its tight, leafy form is exactly why this style of basil shows up as potted plants in European greengrocers rather than as cut bunches, and it is the reason to choose it over standard Genovese when you are growing in pots, a greenhouse bench or a tight bed.