FREE: *Perilla* seeds (10)

The listing, *Perilla* seeds (10) has ended.

Resembling purple basil, Perilla plants grow two to three feet tall. Large, oval leaves can have a metallic sheen and some rippling. Most types are purple, but there are green forms. Showiness is at its height near the end of summer. Set out plants after the danger of frost ends, in good garden soil in partial shade to full sun. Space them eight to ten inches apart. In a few weeks they will make an attractive mass of color. Pinch them back once to develop bushy side branches. Remove flowers for neater looking plants, but leave a few on for seeds for future plants.
Sow seeds outdoors just after the last expected frost or indoors a few weeks earlier. Seeds germinate in a week at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also start plants from tip cuttings. Use plants for purple color in pots, beds, and borders. Transplant volunteers while they are small, to fill bare spaces in the garden. Use leaves in salad or stir-fry, and add some to white vinegar in a bottle to tint it pink and flavor it. Perilla oil is a very rich source of the essential nutritional omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, and its use as an edible oil is more for its medicinal benefit than its flavor. The artificial sweetener perillartine can be synthesized from perillaldehyde, but it is used in Japan only for sweetening tobacco,despite being 2000 times sweeter than sucrose, and insolubility in water. Perilla leaves are rich in dietary fiber, dietary minerals, such as calcium, iron and potassium, and vitamins A, C and riboflavin. Perilla leaf components are under preliminary research for potential anti-inflammatory properties, and may be used to preserve foods. Perilla leaves are a nutrient rich green herb high in calcium, phosphorous, iron and vitamins A, K and C. This is a mix of both the green and purple variety.