Park Seed Dolce Fresca Basil Seeds, Pack of 100 Seeds - 52489-PK-P1

• Days to Maturity: 70 from direct sow. Ah, the name says it all: sweet, fresh basil for your garden, patio, and kitchen windowsill. This award-winning variety combines intensity of scent and flavor with a super-compact, vigorous habit. The result is a bushy large-leafed plant less than 2 feet high and rarin' to set new leaves all season long. Just 10- to 20-inches high and not more than a foot wide, it flowers very late, so you don't spend all summer pinching off new buds. Dolce Fresca is a Genovese type, setting large, flat leaves simply packed with delicious flavor. And it makes such a bushy, well-branched ball of foliage that it looks like an ornamental addition to the garden or patio, instead of the workhorse herb it really is. Begin the seeds either indoors in late winter or direct-sow in spring. To start indoors, sow about 6 to 8 weeks before last frost. The seeds will germinate in 5 to 10 days. Transplant when they have 2 sets of true leaves, spacing plants 12 to 15 inch apart in garden, or in your best containers. If you are direct-sowing, wait until soil has thoroughly warmed up in spring. Then cover seeds with about ¼-inch of soil, & thin the young plants to 12 to 15 inches apart when they are about 2 inch tall. As your basil plants grow, pinch off the central stem when they are about 6 weeks old, and prune back each stem when it has more than 8 sets of leaves. (Cut it back to the first or second set of leaves, harvesting the rest.) If you keep your plants well pinched and pruned, you should be able to harvest half a cup of fresh leaves every week during the growing season. 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. Harvest the plant before the cold weather sets in, as this will affect the leaves' texture and flavor. Freeze entire stems, with the leaves still attached, for best flavor retention, or dry the leaves for seasoning. You will love this award winner.