It's nowhere near as invasive as mint. It's an annual (or at least it is in our Northern climes) and I've never noticed it resowing itself... unlike evil mint that grows beneath the winter snows and pulls that high-school-date-in-a-movie-theatre-move where it pretends to be "yawning," but is really staking claim to surrounding territory. I have seeds to send you. Just send me your addy and I'll mail 'em when the time is right.

Our favorite use of basil (apart from pesto) is this Thai noodle dish, from Real Thai by Nancy McDermon. We eat this pretty much every week during the basil growing season. It works with any kind of basil, in my opinion. 3 c. wide rice noodles, soaked in boiling water for 10 min, then drained. 2 Tbs minced hot peppers 1 Tbs chopped garlic 1 Tbs sugar 1/4 tsp salt Ground black pepper to taste 3 Tbs fish sauce 1 tsp soy sauce 2-4 Tbs veg. oil 1/4 lb ground pork, beef, turkey, or chicken 3/4 c. chopped basil or mint small handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered Get everything ready before you begin. Combine your sugar, salt, pepper in one small bowl, and the fish sauce and soy in another. Put all the other ingredients next to the stove. Heat a large, deep skillet over med high heat, add oil. When hot, add garlic. Toss 30 sec. Add chiles and toss another 30 sec. Add the ground meat, breaking it up with your spatula. Cook till brown. Add the sugar mixture and toss to mix. Add the fish sauce mixture and stir fry until the sauce bubbles and thickens slightly (~1 min.). Turn the heat down a bit and add the rice noodles and turn to coat in the sauce, about 1 min. Add the basil, turning to wilt. Add the tomatoes, fold in, and remove from heat. Enjoy! I like to add a bit more fish sauce to my plate of noodles.

I periodically whack the ends of the stems off to encourage bushiness and fresh growth with bigger leaves. I kept some going for three years, seed pod formation and all. My plants are just common smooth leaf, and getting to be basketball size. I have not noticed a problem with the flavor after flowering ... maybe because I like strong basil. And the quail like the seeds.

Squirrel: What you call regular basil has a very pronounced anise or licorice flavor to me, so I'm not sure what anise basil is. I love basil. It pairs very well with tomatoes, so fresh leaves shredded over sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper makes a great salad platter. Cherry tomatoes and little mozzarella chunks (or those bite size balls if you can find them) on a skewer or toothpick with basil leaves alternating in between make a fancy nibble to offer guests before dinner. Or a big tray of them are great for a pot luck. Of course, a generous handful of basil leaves chopped up and tossed into your simmering tomato sauce is heavenly. It makes its own pasta sauce called pesto, which is basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and usually pine nuts (but you can sub walnuts or leave the nuts out), ground up in a processor or blender. Don't use like red sauce -- 1/3 cup of pesto might be enough for 1 pound of pasta. Seriously, a little goes a long way. Pesto can also be used as a sandwich spread with Italian cold cuts, roasted red peppers, cheeses. Or maybe a turkey, Provolone, bacon and tomato sandwich. I don't freeze it with the cheese or nuts because it gets grainy and chewy. To freeze just the basil, wash and dry the leaves, blend in a processor or blender with enough oil to make a paste. Freeze in small zip bags, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup per bag. Throw a bag into minestrone soup or a pot of ratatouille, thaw and add to a meatloaf, thaw and add Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, and more oil to make pesto in the dead of winter. I hope you pinched off all the flowers to keep the leaves big and plump. And I've never found a use for the stems, too bitter. Just compost them.