Cinnamon Basil is a rare treat your garden should not be without. A distinctly different variety from the commonly grown species, it is very easy to cultivate, delicious, and useful in the garden. Grow it for that irresistible spicy-sweet scent, those charming red stems and pink blooms, and/or the delectable flavor of the small, deep green leaves.
 
This basil gets its name because it contains the same ingredient as cinnamon: methyl cinnamate. But it also retains its traditional basil flavor, so the result is a spicy-sweet combination that works as well in baked goods as it does in pastas and salads. If you make your own jams, oils, or vinegars, be sure to grow some just for flavoring.
 
Cinnamon Basil reaches 3 feet high and wide in the garden but can be kept much smaller for containers and tight spaces. It is quick-growing and distinctive, with a deep red central stem and small, toothy, dark green foliage. Often the red stem color blushes onto the veins of the leaves, too, adding to the ornamental appeal.
 
If you are growing Cinnamon basil for its ornamental beauty or as a pest repellant in the vegetable garden (it does a particularly good job with tomatoes), you will also love its deep pink to purple blooms, which arise profusely. If you are growing it for culinary use, however, you will be pinching away those flower buds the minute you see them, to preserve the full force of the flavor in the leaves.