Yesterday, I posted some inspiration for starting a basil garden and today, I want to continue where I left off.

As I've mentioned, I'm very inspired by basil at the moment. I just started my summer basil garden and I'm making recipes that include this aromatic herb.

I just made fresh basil pesto today, actually! Check it out here.

Besides just enjoying basil for culinary purposes, certain colored varieties, like purple basils, can really add color and contrast to a potted flower arrangement or a flowerbed.

Here, the potato vine really makes the purple basil stand out:

Basil Companion Plants

Tomato and sweet peppers happen to be two plants you can grow next to basil for shared benefits. It's like a natural boost of health for not only your basil plants but for your tomato and sweet pepper plants, too.

Basil's smell is supposed to ward off bugs that eat tomatoes, and as an added bonus, give tomatoes more flavor.

Sweet peppers, (aka bell peppers), also like growing next to basil. This isn't all that surprising considering they are another nightshade related to tomatoes.

Green Sweet Pepper

Red Sweet Pepper

No only do basil, tomatoes, and sweet peppers benefit each other, they also share similar growing needs related to temperature, sunlight, water, soil type, and soil pH. So, it just makes sense to plant them together, anyway you look at it;)

As an added tip, if you find your basil plants (or tomato plants for that matter) start showing signs of a bug problem, one of the best solutions is to plant marigolds around them. Marigolds give off a strong aroma and are known to repel insects that love to eat basil and tomatoes.

Hope these tips have been helpful to you and maybe even inspired you to grow your own basil. Stay tuned for part 3 of my Basil Garden Inspiration Series.

Happy Gardening, Steemians!

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Images were taken from these sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6