FREE: 500ct. Dark Opal Basil Herb Seeds

The listing, 500ct. Dark Opal Basil Herb Seeds has ended.

Dark Opal Basil is popular sweet basil with regal, purple-black glossy foliage and pale pink flowers and a delicious aroma. The beautiful eye catching purple leaves get darker as the basil plant matures. Aside from being a colourful garden plant Opal Basil is a very high quality basil perfect for culinary use in any dish.
Dark Opal grows at a steady pace, it produces small to medium sized, tender leaves, reaching an overall height of between 30 to 45cm (12 to 18in) tall and is slow to bolt. The dark purple leaves have a metallic green undertone or sheen in bright light and are flat and open compared to many other varieties.

Like many basil varieties, Dark Opal has a degree of licorice flavour, used as a culinary herb it gives both good flavour and attractive appearance. It can be used in fresh or dried form and can be frozen for later use. It works particularly well in salads and stir fry and is excellent when grown to micro-leaf stage for adding to salads and sandwiches. Dark Opal basil will turn basil vinegar a beautiful shade of mauve.
The recipes are endless that take advantage of this fresh and spicy leaf. It is recommend it to gardeners looking for something a little different that's not just a disappointing flavour cloaked by a novel appearance.

Dark Opal Basil was developed at the University of Connecticut in the 1950's, it is an All America Selection winner and is grown as much for its decorative appeal as for its culinary value.
This multi-purpose variety is one of the mainstays of many herb gardens. It makes a great ornamental plant in the flower bed or as a border plant and bees love the blossoms.