Skip to Content Skip to Navigation
Menu

Amazel Basil® Sweet Italian Basil Ocimum hybrid

Exposure
  • Sun
Flower Season
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Fall
Mature Size
3' 2' 91cm 61cm
Height: 20" - 3'
Spread: 12" - 2'
Height: 51cm - 91cm
Spread: 30cm - 61cm
Award Winner
  • Details

    20 - 36 Inches
    12 - 18 Inches
    12 - 24 Inches
    51cm - 91cm
    30cm - 46cm
    30cm - 61cm

    Features

    What do you call the most amazing basil you’ve ever seen? Amazel, of course. This is truly a game-changing plant—it is the first Italian sweet basil that is resistant to downy mildew, a disease that often plagues basil. And since it’s sterile, this large, vigorous plant produces a higher yield of usable, deliciously aromatic leaves. The more you harvest, the better it grows. It’s time to make the switch from your old basil to Amazel. You’ll never look back!

    Basil is notorious for being quite susceptible to downy mildew. Amazel, however, has excellent resistance to Downy Mildew, which will keep plants growing and producing for home gardeners throughout the entire season. This is an amazing improvement in basil.
            
    Unlike typical basil, Amazel is seed sterile and therefore continues to produce leaves and shoots even after flower initiation unlike other basil varieties that focus most or all of their energy into seed production. For best flavor and leaf production, harvest and or pinch regularly to promote fresh tender growth.  If heavy flowering happens late in the season that will likely affect taste, but when it is actively growing new leaves and shoots it will have its best flavor.  A small amount of flowering should not affect taste at all.
     
    Award Winner
    Edible
    Fragrant Foliage
    Foliage Interest
    Heat Tolerant

    Characteristics

    Plant Type: 
    Annual
    Height Category: 
    Medium
    Garden Height: 
    20 - 36 Inches 51cm - 91cm
    Spacing: 
    12 - 18 Inches 30cm - 46cm
    Spread: 
    12 - 24 Inches 30cm - 61cm
    Foliage Colors: 
    Green
    Foliage Shade: 
    Green
    Habit: 
    Upright
    Container Role: 
    Thriller

    Plant Needs

    Light Requirement: 
    Sun

    The optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).

    Maintenance Category: 
    Easy
    Bloom Time: 
    Grown for Foliage
    Hardiness Zones: 
    10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
    Water Category: 
    Average
    Uses: 
    Border Plant
    Uses: 
    Container
    Uses: 
    Edible Herb
    Uses: 
    Landscape
    Uses Notes: 

    Best grown in the landscape, although a large container can work as well.  Once picked, add lavishly to rice dishes, poultry, fish, potatoes and vegetables, dressings or marinades.

    Maintenance Notes: 

    Harvest sprays of leaves by cutting stems just above two new sprouting lateral branches to get lush regrowth. One of the most common disease issues in basil is downy mildew.  This basil is downy mildew resistant and has little to no seed set. If it does happen to produce a few flowers, pinch them off and it will continue to produce leaves to use in your kitchen.

    Amazel Basil plants will reach full size in about 4-6 weeks after transplanting them from a 4” container into the landscape or a larger pot. Your location and temperatures can impact how quickly the plant grows for you. In any case, you should be able to start harvesting from your plant pretty regularly within a few weeks after transplanting to your garden or patio planter.  Because Amazel is produced from cuttings rather than from from seed, it will not follow the traditional “days to maturity” designation you find with seed produced basil.  Amazel usually is very late to flower, but flowers may sporadically appear. The flowers can easily be pinched off and because Amazel produces NO SEED it will continue to grow harvestable leaves all season long. You’ll be making pesto to your hearts content in no time!

    Amazel Basil® Ocimum hybrid 'UF16-23-2' USPP 30,917, Can PBRAF
  • 12 Reviews

    5
    8
    4
    3
    2
    1
    4
    Browse reviews from people who have grown this plant.
    • Third year growing Amazel. I have to say I'm disappointed this year. It did not take off as in previous years. In ground planted the last two years and it was huge and beautiful. This year it is barely 12" tall and setting flowers early which I'm pinching off to send energy back to the leaves, even with pinching it is not branching out as it has in the past. I'll be lucky to get a couple handfuls off it. Purchased two for my mom as well, as I have always talked this variety up and both of hers are tiny as well. Small leaves on a short plant. Bought from my local garden center, the PW pot was a selections pot I believe, wondering if this could be an error? Just not what we were expecting.

      Laura Nowlin
      , 34 weeks ago
    • I bought it from a nursery and transferred it right away to a bigger new pot after coming home but the leaves turned dark brown/black within a day. Don't know what went wrong.

      Itrat
      , Colorado
      , United States
      , 43 weeks ago
    • Sadly, this plant withered away within a day of unboxing. I unboxed immediately upon delivery, and watered it. I had been waiting months and was so excited. It almost seemed as if it got too cold during delivery.

      A. Salsman
      , Washington
      , United States
      , 1 year ago
    • This basil plant exceeded my expectations! Definitely ordering again!

      Dot
      , 4 years ago
    • This basil puts all others to shame. I concur with the other rave reviews. One (pricey) plant provided us with more fresh basil than we could handle, growing to about 30 inches tall. I processed and froze a lot of the harvest in ice-cube-sized chunks for cooking through the winter. The ordinary type I planted did not compare in quality or quantity, It is a cool September here in Michigan and my one plant is growing strong, even after all the cuttings I already took.

      Larry P
      , Michigan
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • Kim Weimer
      , California
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • This Basil has become My Favorite. It is truly amazing.I usually have to plant 3 basils in order to keep up with my drying herbs and cooking. I planted one plant this spring and here it is August. All I do is pinch off the blooms and it has grown as tall as my Prince tut. 3 ' tall and 2' wide. THe flavor is one of the best basils I have ever grown. I have trimmed it back 5 times and dried the leaves to replenish my supply for this winter. I am now making basil paste and storing it in an air tight mason jar in my refrigerator. I will not have to buy any basil for the rest of the year. I highly recommend this Basil. Laura was correct it really is amazing.

      Kim Weimer
      , California
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • This is an excellent basil. It really is resistant to that dreaded black mildew. Before Amazel, I had only a brief window in which to make pesto enough to last all winter. (I freeze it.) With Amazel, I can make pesto all summer long. Problem solved!

      Tony Adams
      , Connecticut
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • This plant is PERFECT!! Excellent taste- not bitter or too sharp, just rich basil flavor, a bit on the milder side. Extremely full lush plant. Glossy leaves, 2’ tall. Made pesto from it and was delicious. Very productive healthy plant. Tiny disadvantage: has seemed to want to set flowers since we got out of our greenhouse (ie early), but we trim them off. Had some difficulty in our greenhouse with several getting disease and dying quickly. But the plants we did get are spectacular! A 5/5 rating In our trials of this plant at our Univ of IL Master Gradener trial garden !!

      Ann Tice
      , Illinois
      , United States
      , 5 years ago
  • 34 Awards

    Award Year Award Plant Trial
    2022 Top Performer Ohio State University Extension - Springfield
    2022 Top Performer Dallas Arboretum
    2021 Top Performer University of Florida - Fort Lauderdale
    2021 Top Performer Boerner Botanical Garden
    2021 Perfect Score University of Tennessee - Knoxville
    2021 Top Performer Ohio State University Extension - Springfield
    2021 Top Performer Penn State
    2021 Top Performer Mississippi State University - Poplarville
    2021 Top Performer University of Georgia
    2021 Perfect Score Oklahoma State University Botanical Gardens
  • 3 Recipes

Back to Top

Find plants you love and create idea boards for all your projects.

To create an idea board, sign in or create an account.