... how I love thee so!

For some reason I feel an immense amount of love for basil. Maybe because it's one of the first plants I grew successfully, it's so easy to grow, and so hard to kill. I like pesto. A lot. I named my mama's dog Basil.

So,

Last year I took some cuttings from one of my in-ground plants and literally left them in a vase of water in a window the ENTIRE WINTER. Kept meaning to pot it... but I have a toddler...

Anyhow, it managed to hang on until I started my seedlings in the spring (around April-ish) and I got it in some soil finally and eventually into the ground.

I'm pretty sure I harvested the cuttings AFTER the basil flowered/went to seed, and this year I'd like to do the same and see how long it can keep going. Ideally I probably should have harvested BEFORE it went to seed but the darn things got away from me. So I now have the cuttings in water and the first few roots are beginning to show up.

My question: since the flowering signals the basil is "done" should I just hack off any flowers that appear on my cuttings like I do on the plants? Should I cut them back farther? Wait until I pot it up? (Which I will be doing soon - not letting it go until spring this time!) Am I expecting to much to keep a basil going multiple years?

I plan to save seed as well so it's not a huge issue (unless basil cross-pollinates - could be interesting) I'd just like to see if I can end up with an "heirloom" basil plant :)