Basil 'Genovese' Seeds

Genovese is the basil Italian cooks reach for when they make pesto, and one pot on a sunny windowsill shows why. The leaves are large, rounded and slightly cupped, a deep matte green with a concentrated, clove-edged flavour that is less sugary than ordinary sweet basil. Ocimum basilicum 'Genovese' makes a bushy plant about 40 cm tall, happy in a pot by the kitchen door or in a warm bed beside tomatoes, and its leaves go into pesto, tomato salads, pizza and pasta sauces.

Sowing and growing

• Sow indoors March to June on a warm windowsill or in a propagator; sow outdoors only in June, in a warm, sheltered spot.
• Sow thinly and barely cover, about 3 mm deep.
• Germination takes 5 to 10 days at around 20°C.
• Grow in full sun and shelter, in light, free-draining compost; water in the morning rather than the evening.
• Grows to about 40 cm tall and 20 cm wide.
• Pick leaves from 6 to 8 weeks after sowing, June to September. Pinch out the tips and remove flower buds to keep it leafy.
• Tender annual: frost kills it, so sow fresh each spring.

What you receive: a packet of about 120 seeds from Piccolo Seeds, with growing instructions on the back.

Find more herb, flower and vegetable seeds in our range, sow a pot of Thai basil seeds alongside it, or start a whole windowsill with the Kitchen Herbs seed collection.