The best cuttings for rooting are small, new growth, non-blooming cuttings 2-3" long and will work best if you use some rooting hormone. Seeds are much easier. Harvest the leaves and then let the plant go to seed.

As an alternative if it is in ground is to dig up part of the root ball and transplant it to a pot.

In your zone it may well live year round if no freezing weather or can be brought in and treated as a house plant if it is potted.

Dave

I actually dug it out of the garden and put it in a large terracotta pot in hopes of bringing it indoors over winter. Then I found out it was an annual.

I read that flowering will bring it to an end, so just keep pinching it like I have been and give it a shot indoors?

Thanks.

I have a similar question. Not just basil but any perennial herb. This is my first year growing various herbs here in Michigan. Do people in my zone bring some of their herbs indoors for the winter and get fresh cuttings throughout?

I'm no expert in Columbus, Ohio, but I just winter sow my annual herbs each year. I have no room indoors for indoor sowing, but I love to cook and enjoy my annual herbs.

For Basil I just cut off the flowering part when I see it. It grows so quickly that I don't worry about the seeds and at the end of the season I just let it grow and spread the seeds for next year.

I can't see why you don't just grow more plants and let one go to seed from the start. If you plant the seeds you get from your plant they do 10 times better than if you buy seeds and you can plant them anywhere. Then if one of your plants gets too large and woody you won't have to worry about how good it will taste. If pruned enough it wil be very large and give you plenty of flavor. One plant will give you enough seeds to take care of you and all your neighbors. I just strip the seed pods off and plant them with the pods still on a whole lot less mess and waste of time.

I only have one plant this year. I'd like to harvest it, while I also want to let it flower and seed afterward.