Allotments 4 All

does anyone know which basil is the sweeter, stronger smelling one with smaller leaves i.e not bush basil, neopolitana types.  I inherited some last year, and need to replace, but not sure which variety they were.  I know the smell and taste was a lot stronger than the standard basil.

And does anyone grow the red basil, how does it compare to the green ?

Hi ricado, I think the sweetest basil is the floppy leaved green mediterranean type used for pesto and bruschetta, but purple basil is sooo stylish! Dear old University of Graz publish a roundup of the topic, with all the basils in the world, at http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Ocim_bas.html ;D

Basil a Piccole Foglie

http://www.seedsofitaly.sagenet.co.uk/erbe1.htm

the basil with small leaves and great pungency is 'bush basil', latin name ocimium minimum - standard types of basil are ocimum basilicum.
lidl has seeds of bush basil -grew some couple of years ago on the windowsill and they were terrific - hope that is of use