Garden And Gossip Forums

I've been rummaging in the weird and wonderful seed box and found some Shiso seeds and some Perilla seeds. After a quick duckduck I find that they are the same plant!!

"Shiso is known by many names including perilla, perilla mint, Chinese basil, wild basil, wild coleus, summer coleus and in the West as The Beefsteak Plant. Its many names were inspired by both its appearance and its flavour. It’s a member of the mint family so it’s no surprise that it has hints of mint in its flavour along with cumin, nutmeg and anise". https://advicefromtheherblady.com/plant-...als/shiso/

You won't be surprised to hear that Suttons/James Wong used to sell them as "Beefsteak plant". 

A few websites warn that it self seeds freely and can be invasive. 
The growing instructions are :- Red or green leaves with a good aroma for use in salad packs or as a stir-fry vegetable. Sow All year round. Sow seed in succession every 2-3 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh young leaves. keep soil moist and cut leaves from each plant leaving some leaves on each so they re-grow. You will often get 3-4 cuttings per plant. 

Has anyone grown or eaten Shiso/Perilla please?

Yes, one of those leaf veg that I've tried once and not liked/used it enough to grow again.

Never heard of it.

Grew it once years ago. From memory I don't think it was too enamoured with the Northeast climate and didn't prosper.

I grew it a few years ago, big productive and quite pretty purple plants. Didn't rate it in the kitchen either, so I didn't grew it again. It's still very trendy - no idea why!

Thanks everyone. Not much enthusiasm so far! Maybe it could be used as a filler plant in a flower border as it looks quite striking?
I'll sow some this week and try it as microgreens, as a more mature salad leaf and as an ornamental - maybe as cut foliage. If all that fails, it can be a sacrificial winter cover crop to be killed by frost.

I’m another one that grow it many years ago. Like Pyreneesplot it got quite big. It was pretty. But it didn’t really get used. As I didn’t really know what to do with it. Wasn’t very adventurous with it. I might add it to my try again list once the new veggie garden is up and running.