The last 5 years we worked to remove all of our lawn; have finally reached the point today that our whole yard is a garden filled with flowers and edibles and NO LAWN! The bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and numerous other birds are very happy to find Dill, Holy Basil, Lime Basil, Red Rubin Basil, Lemon Basil, (plus more), Comfrey, Bee Balm, Elephant Garlic, Detroit Red Beets, Onions, Egyptian Walking Onions, various Swiss Chard, Strawberries, Carrots, Crinums, Amaryllis, Rain Lilies, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, various other bulbs (what can I say...they are EASY), Agastache, Salvias, Iris, Cannas, Bluebonnets, Mums, Spiderwort, Asparagus, various Mints, and Blackberries, Blueberries, Pomegranates, Peach Trees, Apricot Trees, Pear Tree, Plum Tree, Apple Tree and Pecan Trees make nice with Red Oaks, Redbud, various Crepe Myrtles, Russian Sage, Hardy Asters, various roses (yes, I CAN grow roses!), Oleanders, various Hibiscus, various lantanas, Caryopteris, etc. And to all that are mixed in the veggies and annual flowers. I'm an open book...still learning how to use everything we are growing, such as teas, etc. Next on the list of "To Do" are ponds and chickens (our one bunny is lonely). Thanks to all the great people on GW who shared their seeds, cuttings, plants, bulbs, advise, etc., I now have a wonderful place to escape the world while I enjoy Mother Nature! Peggy

OK wow, some off kilter information here. First holy basil WILL NOT cross with Italian basil. They are different species. Cultivars of holy basil will cross with each other however. Second "Krishna" is only a single cultivar of holy basil. It is not the name by which all holy basil is known. The varieties with which I am familiar are Krishna (tastes of pepper), Rama (tastes of clove), Vana (tastes of anise and technically a different species but still commonly considered a holy basil), and Amrita which is an intermediate variety between Krishna and Rama that is grown in the area for which it is named. I don't know what it tastes like nor how it originated. It does seem to breed true at least in that area. A fifth cultivar appears to be African basil and is commonly called "temperate tulsi". I think there is a variety that was also called temperate tulsi that was originated by Abundant Life Seeds? I think? I have also seen this called Kapoor, but other references state the two are different. That's all I know about that - well one other thing. O africanum smells like Bazooka Bubblegum and tastes of tutti-frutti. Yech! YMMV. Third - holy basil is commonly used in cooking. I don't know where Julie Sahni is coming from with that comment but one Indian is not all of India. In India it is most commonly to be used as a garnish and to flavor drinks such as lassi, and, of course, in numerous tisanes widely considered to be very very healthful indeed. In Thailand, which is now mostly Buddhist but has strong roots in Hinduism even to this day, it is very VERY commonly used in cooking. The reason we don't see it much here is that holy basil is a tropical perennial plant with a long growing season that few places in the US can accommodate, and the fresh leaves have an uncommonly short shelf life. https://www.archanaskitchen.com/tulasi-and-beetal-leaves-rasam-recipe https://food.ndtv.com/recipe-tulsi-ajwain-ka-mahi-tikka-952870 https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/11173427-tulsi-modak https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/11079473-fried-kholar-beans-with-napa-kidney-beans-with-naga-basil https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/10526973-basil-stick-with-cottage-cheese Where the specific varietal is not mentioned in a recipe, they probably mean Krishna. You could always grow both Krishna and Rama and decide which you prefer, or use some mix of both. I doubt they mean Vana as that is commonly known as wild holy basil and why wouldn't they just call it that. Please know that dried holy basil is very different from fresh, as is true of Italian basil. Note that the rajma dal (kidney bean) recipe calls for Napa or Naga basil, which I have seen elsewhere identified as Wild Lemon Basil. I'm guessing that may be Vana (O gratissimum) or a related cultivar but I'm not sure. I have seen it identified by one source as O citriodorum which is simply lemon basil and is a cross between O americanum and O basilicum. It is used in Thai cuisine, common in Indonesian cuisine and ubiquitous in Laotian cuisine and I find it odd that it would be part of a distinctive regional cuisine that far northwest of its other distributions on or near the Indian subcontinent, but it could have been introduced along with chili peppers (prior to the arrival of hot peppers in India, black pepper was the king of spices). Given that the source in question didn't seem to know what holy basil is AT ALL I wonder. At any rate I have no idea what Naga basil is in actuality. That dish is identified as part of the cuisine of the Naga people of northern India. Maybe lemon basil doesn't grow well in India so Indians who are cooking Naga food substitute what they know, eg holy basil, for it. No clue. I'm going to guess that there is a north/south divide where Tulsi is more commonly used in dishes other than drinks in the south of India than in the northern parts. Julie Sahni is a north Indian and I have found all of her cookbooks to be very strongly oriented to the northern cuisines and often the moghul cooking that is absolutely NOT the norm anywhere in India amongst regular folks. Julie Sahni is not an authority to go to for information on all Indian cuisine, just her part of the country. Her later cookbooks were less chauvinistic than the early cookbooks but I'd look elsewhere for more balanced ideas of what Indian cooking is all about. I freely admit to a strong bias myself towards south Indian cuisine. You have to start tropical varieties of holy basil about 12 weeks (you can probably get away with as little as 6 in warmer areas of the US) in advance of putting them out and you can't put them out until temps are over 70F. You should start hardening them off when temps reach 60F. It has a growing season in excess of 120 days, does not tolerate frost at all, and established plants do poorly when temps dip below 50F. It grows well in zones 10 to 12 - outside of parts of southern Tejas, southern Florida, and Hawaii it will not grow well in the US except as a tender perennial that is started indoors well before you plan to put it out. It requires some light to germinate. I have seen it recommended to "hold the seed up to the light before planting" which is of course utter nonsense, but at any rate - light sensitive germination. Cover thinly. Provide plenty of supplemental light during germination. Use a heat mat set to 75F and a dome. Water carefully to prevent damp off but don't let it dry out. It is often recommended to plant under a cloche or tunnel because it needs warmer soil temps than we usually achieve in many parts of the US until rather late in our growing seasons. It is often recommended to grow it as a potted plant for this and other reasons. There are several potential sources for the named cultivars by now, possibly these sources were not available 10 years ago or whenever this thread originated. Seeds of India now has all 3 of the common Indian Holy basil, eg Krishna, Rama (identified as Ram), and Vana. They state that Vana is clove flavored whereas all other sources I have seen identify that as anise flavored. I was planning to try it anyway but now I am more likely to do so as soon as possible. They also have a Thai basil and lemon basil. Strictly Medicinal Seeds has all 5 varieties listed above (except possibly kapoor if it is different from O africanum and obviously excluding Naga basil since I have no idea what that actually is). Strictly Medicinal identifies their temperate tulsi as O africanum based on a genetic analysis. Adaptive Seeds claims to have a variety they call kapoor that is supposedly directly descended from the Abundant Life offering, which they identify as 0 tenuiflorum. Either it is not temperate tulsi or it is not O tenuiflorum. The differences/similarities between kapoor, O africanum, and what is commonly known as temperate tulsi is murky at best. Adaptive seeds identifies theirs based on provenance alone. Might be interesting to grow the two and see how they differ and/or are similar. Mountain Rose Herbs offers Tulsi seed which is not identified other than as "temperate" and which they link back to Krishna and Rama varietals, neither of which have anything to do with kapoor or temperate tulsi. There's no telling what that stuff is. Botanical Interests offers a single variety that is described as smelling of bubblegum which they identify as Kapoor/temperate Tulsi. There are several sellers of tulsi varietals on Amazon. I prefer to buy my seed directly from seed companies myself. YMMV. They do have several offerings for a seed packet of Kaprow holy basil directly imported from Thailand. I think the holy basil usually used for cooking in Thailand is either Krishna or closely related to Krishna but I can't be sure about that. Seems that buying seed directly imported from Thailand would solve the issue of wondering if you got the same stuff they use to cook with in Thailand. And yes, Thai holy basil is completely different from Thai basil. O tenuiflorum and O sanctum are the exact same plants. Vana is O gratissimum and is reputed to be toxic to Leishmania. Drinking Vana tulsi tisane probably doesn't help with that. O. gratissimum and O. viride are reportedly partially cross-fertile - eg hybrids are sometimes, but not always, fertile. I have not found information pertaining to cross fertilization (or not) with O tenuiflorum. Note that temperate tulsi grows better in the US than the tropical variety but I have so little interest in the plant that I haven't bothered to remember the cultivation details. It is apparently a bee magnet and is reputed to attract native as well as honey bees. I wonder if it might also be attractive to butterflies but have no information pertaining to that.

Tulsi is Holy or Sacred Basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum/O. sanctum. It's wild form is O. gratissimum. It's an annual, and it does best in temperature climates (think India). It is so different from sweet basil in appearance and aroma that you have to look closely at the flowers to see the connection. It has a luscious, musky odour that penetrates the air and clings to hands and clothing when touched. The wide growing plants can reach 60cm in height and an even larger width. Their arching branches are covered with narrow, fuzzy, grey-green leaves. In the summer, they produce many rough spikes of dull, bronzy lavender-white flowers that yield enormous amounts of seeds. Medicinal Uses: Used internally for feverish conditions (especially in children), colds, flu, sinusitis, headaches, rheumatism, arthritis, abdominal distension and cramps, poor libido, and melancholy. Used externally for skin infections, acne abrasions or insect bits and stings. Seeds are made into tonics and have same uses as Sweet Basil (O. basilicum). May prevent peptic ulcers and other stress related conditions such as high blood pressure, colitis and asthma. Sow the seeds in early spring indoors or in the greenhouse for an early start, or seed directly in the spring or summer garden. Sow seeds just under the surface of the soil and press in firmly. Keep watered and warm until germination, which occurs within 1-2 weeks. Prefers full sun, rich soil, and plenty of water. Here is a link that might be useful: Tulsi

Others to maybe try in your zone...bee balm, roselle, raspberry, mountain mint, chamomile, rose, dandelion, licorice, catnip, red clover, stevia, tulsi, chicory, .... Be sure to check the medicinal effects out of any herb before consuming. Even those often drank for pleasure have effects that one should know about before using. Plants for a Future site will give you a decent intro to the uses and growing needs of anything we've listed here so far. FataMorgana