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No Basil garden is complete without the classic Italian Basil, the true Genovese large-leaf with rich aromas and plenty of oil. This is the essential component of all your Neapolitan dishes, from spaghetti to pizza. It is terrific dried as a spice or used fresh as seasoning.

Marseille is a French Basil, and takes the award for best fragrance. You will smell it long, long before you see it, and a single plant perfumes a whole swathe of garden! (Grow it in the kitchen windowsill and you'll find yourself making excuses to hang out around the sink!)

Mrs. Burns' Lemon Basil is an heirloom variety from New Mexico with a puckery citrus flavor that really sets it apart! Many modern varieties smell like certain flavors, but Mrs. Burns' Lemon tastes like the fruit it is named for, too! You'll love this vigorous, bushy plant; it is compact enough for containers, but also makes a good choice for the annual bed and vegetable garden, where its powerful scent repels pests.

And then there's Red Rubin, everyone's favorite for ornamental purposes, but also a delicious flat-leaved choice for cooking. The foliage is a rich, dark violet with hints of blue, strikingly different from any other Basil in the garden. And this seed is the easiest of any Basil to germinate, so you always get a few more Red Rubins than you might expect!