In this post, I will share with you a new favorite in my garden called Red Shiso Perilla. A dear friend of mine was kind enough to share seeds with me and I’ve been enjoying them ever since. I hope to save some seeds for a winter harvest after trying the Yummy tea recipe featured on this post. Be sure to scroll down and check it out.
Green and Red Shiso Perilla Seeds
An absolute must for herb gardens! Also called Japanese basil or beefsteak plant, shiso’s is a beautiful plant that grows like coleus. The incredible flavor can be described as a combination of cinnamon, mint, and clove with overtones of cumin when harvest young leaves. A heat- and drought-tolerant bedding plant that attracts pollinators. A friend of mine gave me the dried flower cuttings from her plant to try growing in my dome. The seed seems to love warm soil to germinate. After the plant got established and moved to the outside garden it LOVES soaking up the sun in a mostly dry location.
The Green and Read Shiso Perilla Plant | Herb
You can find this seed which I highly recommend growing from Johnny Seeds or Botanical Interest Seeds. Simple go to their site and add green and red shiso perilla seed to the search option. Once you have the heirloom seed you can save and grow year after year. Many have told me that the plant will self-seed year after year. This is my first year growing outside so I do not know for a fact.
This plant was super easy to grow from seed and harvest is fun. The plant does seem to respond like some of my coleus do to extreme dry full sun.
Scientific Name(s): Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.
Common Name(s): Aka-jiso (red perilla), Ao-jiso (green perilla), Beefsteak plant, Perilla, Purple mint, Shiso, Wild coleus
More Online
I did find on the Purdue Extension site that this plant is NOT good for cows to eat in large quantities.
Growing Herbs On My Website
Below you will find the latest post featuring fun herbs to grow in your home garden.
Let’s Connect
What an exciting plant all from a handful of dry blooms a friend sent my way. I would love to hear from you so be sure to comment below or on this post. Have you or do you grow red or green shiso perilla? If you do, where do you grow it, and how do you use it?
I hope to connect with you soon,
2 Responses
It’s an invasive species
(link removed)
Thank you for sharing this information with me about the plant and invasive labeling. I will keep you posted if this if I have a problem with this. When I planted the Red Shiso Perilla I had in mind that it might spread so I was sure to put it in a contained location (raised bed). This summer I will be sure to revisit this post and comment on if I have any issues with it self-seed prolifically.
Thank you again for your information.
Bren