Sweet Dani Lemon Basil Seeds

Days to Maturity: 80 from direct sow

AAS Winner 1998

Sweet Dani Lemon Basil offers a different scent from the common Italian (Genovese) basil varieties you may accustomed to. This fragrance is pure, clean, and citrusy in nature, overlaid with the familiar basil spicy tang that is so irresistible. You're going to love this fast-growing, large-leaved, very productive beauty.

Sweet Dani Lemon is a vigorous variety, shooting quickly up to 26 inches high and 10 to 14 inches wide when grown as an ornamental. Its unusual white flowers last fully two weeks longer than others, bringing more butterflies and bees into the garden over a longer season. If you are growing this basil as an ornamental or as a guard plant for the vegetable garden (it is particularly effective at warding off hornworms, aphids, and mites), you will find it robust and ready to go.

And if you want to use Sweet Dani Lemon as a culinary herb, be prepared for heavy yields over a long season. The leaves are large, and the stems packed with rich lemony oil. This is a pucker-worthy lemon basil you will adore.

Sweet Dani Lemon is easy to grow from seed, whether you begin the seeds indoors in late winter or in the warm garden soil in spring. If starting indoors, sow about 6 weeks before last forecasted frost. The seeds should germinate in 5 to 10 days, and the seedlings ready to transplant when they have two sets of true leaves. If starting outdoors, wait until the soil is warm, then cover the seeds with ¼-inch of soil. When the seedlings are a few inches high, thin them to 12 to 15 inches apart.

When Sweet Dani Lemon is about 6 weeks old, pinch off the central growing stem. This will encourage side shoots to develop. Even if you are growing the basil for ornamental effect, you will want it bushier and more full. Then, if you are growing the herb for culinary use, cut back the stems every time they sport more than 8 leaves. Trim back to the first set of leaves, and they will regrow all the faster and bigger. With regular trimmings, you can harvest nearly a cup of basil leaves a week from each plant this way. Or, if you prefer, harvest the whole plant at once, just as the flower buds are set to open.

Basil loves hot weather and plenty of sunshine, but it needs consistently moist, rich soil. Mulch the plants to retain moisture, and water heavily during dry spells. That's all there is to it. Enjoy this exceptional variety.