I grew the red and dwarf purple in Tennessee and truly enjoyed it. I need to start me some here. I remember having mildew problems with the red but we had a sprinkler system then and I always that the overhead watering caused it. Your gardens are beautiful and I have never eaten or used them, but looks like I should consider it. Thank you for posting the uses of leaves and flowers.
Oddly enough, the mildew was FAR worse during our year of drought than during our years of rain. Counter-intuitive, right? And I read many people experienced the same during that year of drought.