Floweringl Basil... what to do with it?

I just got home from a 6 week overseas holiday, to find my Basil plantation has made alot of flowers in my absence. My housesitter didnt trim it at all. Theres only so much you can expect from a housesitter, giving my huge garden full time attentive care obviously doesnt fall into that category. The leaves have a biter taste, not suitable for fresh eating.

Does anyone have any ideas what to do with huge bunches of floral basil? Can it be used to add aroma to canned tomatoes? Or even in potpouri? Im growing Purple, Thai, Cinnamon, Lemon, and Sweet basil. Just thought Id ask before pulling it out and composting the whole lot.

The rest of my garden is in need of some urgent repair work too, as you can see in this picture!

Any Ideas on the Basil greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Lena

Oops that was the wrong picture. This one hopefully has the basil in the bottom right corner :-)

I would just prune them way back.

Yes... As far as I've been able to tell, when you prune off the flowers, the new growth (with twice as many branches!) will go back to being sweet and tasty.

I wouldn't put it into food, because there's no disguising that bitter note... but for fresh bouquets or potpourri, I think the blooming stems would be just fine!

Thank you both for your replies. So the regrowth will be edible, even though the flowers are well mature by now... I hope so. I will prune it right back and see what happens. Maybe use the branches to make some fragrant dried flower bunches to hang inside. I think I remember reading somewhere that basil is supposed to keep the flies away...

that happened to me once after a brief vacation- I ended up trimming the flowers and throwing them on the coals of the bar b que fore some great flavored smoke! I smoked tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers and hot peppers-now I always let a few more go to seed just for that purpose- if you trim the flowers and they dry out, just soak in water for a few minutes to plump them back up before placing on the hot coals.( warning: neighbors tend to show up unexpectedly with plates and forks in hand...lol)

Wow what a fabulous idea! I dont have a barbeque, but am thinking of the possibilities with a meat/ fish smoker..? I worked in a few restaurant kitchens where they placed a smoke box over the open grill to smoke various meats and vegetables. Manuka sawdust was spinkled into the gas flame to make the smoke. Basil sounds great... Im keen to try it, next bbq I go to Ill bring some basil.
Ater the big trim, I have a few huge fragrant bunches of basil hanging in my hallway, the smell is amazing everytime I walk past. And the plants are sprouting back quite nicely. Ill pick some for eating soon.

Please do let us know if the flavor of the new growth is good... I think it should be, but I usually don't have plants that get that far along unless I'm letting them set seed.

I always have a sort of love/hate relationship with flowering basil. It looks so lovely when it flowers, especially those with pink and purple flowers, but I know the basil gets bitter. So, I usually grow some just for the flowers and some that I keep cut back so they don't flower. One thing I do sometimes with flowering basil stalks is to just put them in a long-necked bottle with some white wine vinegar. It looks beautiful and after a couple of weeks I strain out the stalk and use the vinegar in salad dressings. If you grow the dark purple-leaved basil the vinegar turns a stunning deep pink. The bottle looks lovely placed in a kitchen window where the sun catches it just a bit.

I love herb vinegars, but I haven't tried adding flowering stems because I didn't want to impart a bitter flavor... good to know that doesn't happen! I like to use a lot of herbs in making a flavored vinegar. After a couple of weeks I strain them out, as you said, and I'll often add just a stem or two "for pretty." A stem of flowering basil would be especially pretty!

I've never noticed a bitter taste in the vinegar. Hope you enjoy it!

Basil vinegar, now on my "to do" list before the season turns.

The regrown basil is ok. Not bitter, but very strong tasting. Im eating it anyway ;-)