Spicy Globe Organic

Spicy Globe is a dwarf bush basil, the small-leaved Greek type classified as Ocimum basilicum var. minimum, and it is grown for its habit as much as for its leaves. Left entirely alone it self-shapes into a tight dome of tiny foliage without any pinching, which is why it lives in window boxes, along bed edges and in tabletop pots rather than in field rows. Fedco lists it as an open-pollinated variety reaching about 8 inches with small, thin, light green leaves and white flowers at 70 days; Renee's Garden sells an organic heirloom strain making 6-9 inch umbrella-shaped canopies on plants to about a foot. The leaves are strongly scented for their size, so one small plant supplies a surprising amount of kitchen basil. This is the variety to choose when the growing space is a pot rather than a bed.