Sugar and Spice

With so many new additions to our Spring Plant Sale offerings, we’re excited to introduce two plants who are new around our greenhouse: Stevia and Thai Basil. Both right at home in a Georgia garden!

Thai Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of those herbs that pulls its weight in every direction. In the kitchen, it's bold and aromatic, sweet with notes of anise and clove, and sturdy enough to hold onto flavor in hot dishes like curries, stir-fries, and brothy noodle soups. Medicinally, it carries the gently warming, digestive-supportive qualities basil is known for, helping ease bloating, stimulate appetite, and lightly lift the mood (sometimes the smell alone will do it!). In the garden, this basil thrives in full sun and summer heat, grows bushier with regular harvesting, and flowers beautifully for pollinators if you let it, though nipping buds early on will keep the foliage lush and abundant and provide even more darling spires of purple blooms later on. Cut it often, use it generously, and it will keep giving!

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a heat-loving herb that thrives in Southern summers, with intensely sweet leaves to match… a true southern belle of the garden! Use them fresh or dried for natural sweetness (either way, a little goes a long way). In the kitchen, it's a wonderful option for sweetening tea, lemonade, or other potions without sugar. While you may recognize Stevia’s name from grocery store shelves, the whole leaf has a greener, more complex flavor than the widespread powdered extracts. In the garden, it prefers full sun, well-drained soil, and consistent moisture, and it the more you mindfully harvest, the more she will give. Harvest before flowering for the best sweetness, and dry the leaves for year-round use!

You can reserve Thai Basil and Stevia seedlings, and stroll through the rest of the Spring Greenhouse here: