An Embarrassment of Basil

What was I thinking when I started the seeds of 23 (yep, you read that right) different varieties of basil? I guess it was just this year's Big Thing. I got interested when I tried about 3 kinds last summer and made pesto with 'Poppy Joe's" from Seeds of Change. It was the first time I'd ever made pesto, and I was hooked. Well, thought I, if 3 kinds are good, 23 just has to be better. Well, yes and no. First off, I'm completely perplexed. This summer has been what I would consider a less than optimal growing season for basil. June and July were below average temperature and rainy to boot, yet my basil is all flourishing. I have it scattered around my property, in beds and borders, in the vegetable garden and (prudently, I think) in pots on my patio. The potted ones by and large are exuberant to say the least! I'm currently experimenting with both making pesto from different varieties and drying for winter use, to see if there are noticeable flavor differences. The most recent batch of pesto was made from 'Poppy Joe's', a huge, glossy leaved variety with that unmistakeable Italian flavor. The next will be from lettuce leaf basil. Most of the remainder is grown for use in bouquets. Top choice for that purpose is usually purple leaf; it combines beautifully with shades of orange, peach, lighter purple and rose/fuschia. I have a plant of the variegated 'Pesto Perpetuo', but it's a very small-leaved variety, better suited as a specimen plant or a topiary. Still, it literally is an "embarrassment of basil" when you find yourself constantly answering the question of what plant is that with one word: "Basil"!