I think variety "Red Rubin". Of course the leaves aren't red, as such - more purple/maroon as you can see in the photo. But whatever the colour, they look great on the plate and taste good too.

I have some spares after potting up some young plants - which are now growing faster than I can eat them.

These are only just potted up in fresh compost in individual pots, so you can just water them (and eat them) for a while. In some months they will outgrow their pots and then you should pot them on. You can keep them going all summer, but basil is a tender annual so don't expect them to live forever.

Don't believe basil has to be tortured like supermarkets do - cramming millions of plants into one tiny pot. A single one will make a large bushy plant (easily 1ft x 1ft) if you keep potting it into a bigger pot as it grows. You can also root the shoots in water to make more plants yourself.

Basil likes strong sunlight and warmth, so probably keep inside in a bright kitchen window or conservatory. They're very happy outside in pots in summer, but in my experience get immediately eaten by slugs if I plant them in the ground, so probably don't do that! That said, this is the year for that if you fancy it.

I will divide my spare plants to satisfy demand.

I also have ordinary sweet basil coming soon (EDIT: now some potted up and ready to give - will post separately soon), and possibly some backup Thai basil "Siam Queen", so talk to me if you're interested in those.

Fair Offer Policy applies

Red leaved basil (Hatfield AL10)