Hennepin County Master Gardener Plant Sale 2024
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Location: Hopkins Pavilion 11000 Excelsior Boulevard
The Master Garden Plant Sale is offering a wide selection of 12 basil varieties!
Basil, a popular and versatile herb that is used in cuisines around the world! Whether you are making pesto, adding fresh herbs to a salad, or seasoning a pasta dish, basil is a go-to herb with its fragrant, sweet, or spicy flavors.
This annual herb from the mint family likes plenty of sun, though it will tolerate a bit of shade. It does best in well-drained, rich, loamy soil.
Tips when growing basil:
- When flowers appear on your basil plants, gently pinch them off to allow the leaves to continue producing and reach full size. You can add their edible flowers to a salad.
- Basils love the sun! But when you see wilting during the mid-summer days, be sure to water thoroughly.
- You can prune monthly (1/3 of the leaves) to encourage bushier, healthier growth.
- Do not fertilize; too many nutrients can make the basil lose its signature taste.
If you enjoy cooking, making tea, growing fun herbs in your pots, or just want to add color to your garden, try growing basil!
Here are a few examples that will excite your palate and your garden. All of these, and more, will be available at our plant sale.
Lemon Basil has a flavor similar to traditional Genovese basil but with a subtle lemon twist. Its bright tangy flavor is perfect in salads, sauces, and dressings, and it pairs well with fish, poultry, and vegetables. It is commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine and especially Thai cuisine.
Photo Sprouted Garden
Cinnamon Basil has a sharp cinnamon fragrance, is great in fruit salads, pesto, and it makes excellent basil tea. This fast-growing basil can reach 3’ and has distinctive violet central stems with long, deep green leaves. If left unpruned, cinnamon basil turns into an attractive flowering plant with lavender-pink blooms.
Photo The Spruce
Dark Opal Basil is a purple, almost-black that will bring color to your garden and is beautiful mixed with vibrant colors. Its distinctive spicy, anise, and clove flavor has a hint of sweetness and pairs well with other a flavors such as garlic, onion, and tomato. It’s great addition to many types of cuisine, and its striking appearance adds an edible decorative touch to salads and other dishes. The plant will reach 1-2’ tall with a bushy growth habit and is wonderful in any herb garden or pot!
Photo MySeedsCo
Genovese Basil is a variety of sweet basil that is popularly used in Italian cuisine and is the gold standard for pesto. It is known for its large, bright green leaves that carry a strong aroma and robust basil flavor. Great for its own pot outside your kitchen door.
Photo The Spruce
Holy Basil has an incredible scent and a prolific habit. It has delicious flavor in teas, and it’s reputed to have numerous medicinal properties. It’s best used in teas or cooked dishes, and it’s popular in Indian cuisine. Both leaves and flowers can be harvested and dried for tea. The plant has a bushy habit, and its beautiful flowers emerge as purple spikes that open into tiny, light pink flowers. Pollinators go crazy for this incredible herb, which attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
Photo Lotus Botanicals
Thai Siam Queen is an award-winning basil that has both ornamental and culinary qualities, known for its aroma and strong, spicy flavor with hints of mint and clove. Thai basil is a staple in Thai and other Asian cuisine and is commonly used in stir-fries, curries, soups, and salads to delightful effect. It is more stable at high and extended cooking temperatures than other basil. It pairs well with chile peppers, garlic, ginger, and coconut milk. The bees love the flowers!
Photo The Spruce
