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Shiso is a Great Addition To Your Garden
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Last updated
Last updated October 22, 2026: the growing directions were corrected (the seeds need light, not a covering of soil), the bicolor leaf description was fixed, an invasiveness and livestock warning from NC State Extension was added, the seed listings were rebuilt with tagged links, and the Short Version, FAQ, Bottom Line, and Winston poll were added.
If you have ever eaten in a Japanese restaurant, you have probably met a shiso leaf without knowing its name. It is the fragrant green leaf under the sashimi, the one tucked beside the wasabi, and it is far more than a garnish. Shiso is used in Japanese cooking the way we use parsley, except that shiso is also genuinely delicious, and once you taste it you will start thinking of dishes it could improve. It is also one of the easiest herbs I have ever grown in Georgia, with two warnings attached, and both warnings are in this article before the seed links, because you should hear them first.
The Short Version
- Shiso (Perilla frutescens var. crispa) is a mint-family herb whose flavor lands somewhere between basil, mint, and cinnamon. Green ao-jiso is the kitchen standard; red aka-jiso colors pickled plums and makes a tart juice.
- The seeds need light to germinate. Press them onto the surface of moist soil and do not bury them. Burying them is the number one reason shiso seed fails.
- Plants grow roughly 2 to 3 feet tall, flower from midsummer into fall, die at the first frost, and self-seed so enthusiastically that one patch can replant itself for years.
- That enthusiasm cuts both ways: perilla is listed as invasive in several states and its leaves are toxic to cattle, so deadhead it, grow it in containers if you are cautious, and keep it out of pastures.
Table of Contents
Contents
- What Shiso Is
- Shiso in the Kitchen
- How to Grow Shiso
- Before You Plant: Two Warnings
- Where to Get Seeds
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Bottom Line
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What Shiso Is
Some people call shiso the beefsteak plant, an old name that comes from the deep red of the purple forms. The scientific name is Perilla frutescens, and the ruffled Japanese culinary forms are the variety crispa. It comes in a green type and a red-purple type, and a small family of forms in between:
- Ao-jiso, the green form, is the most popular in the kitchen and the one on your sashimi plate.
- Aka-jiso, the red-purple form, is what gives umeboshi, pickled plums, their color. Dried and salted, it becomes yukari, the tart furikake sprinkled over rice.
- Chirimen-jiso forms are the frilly, ruffled-leaf types.
- Katamen-jiso is the bicolor form: green on top, red-purple underneath. An older version of this article had that backwards, and the correction is one reason for this update.
The flavor is the reason to grow it. My rule of thumb has not changed since 2015: you can use shiso pretty much anywhere you would normally use basil or mint, because it tastes like a combination of the two, with a little cinnamon warmth behind them. No other herb in my garden does three jobs at once.
Shiso in the Kitchen
A whole leaf of green shiso is often used as a little receptacle to hold wasabi, which is how most Americans first meet it. The leaf can also be chopped and used as an herb or condiment for an assortment of cold dishes: cold noodles or soba, cold tofu, and hundreds of other uses, including fillings and batters that are then cooked. It is remarkably versatile, and once you taste it you will likely think of lots of ways to liven up old recipes of your own.
It is very good chopped into any type of pasta salad or a traditional green salad. I have chopped it into dishes with meat and poultry as well, and a few torn leaves over a bowl of rice with sesame seeds and a splash of soy sauce make a lunch out of almost nothing. The flower buds, called hojiso, are edible too and worth trying if your plants bloom before you deadhead them.
How to Grow Shiso
Starting Seeds
The original version of this article told you to sow the seeds and lightly cover them. That advice is the reason for one of this update’s corrections: shiso seeds need light to germinate, so press them gently onto the surface of moist, well-drained soil or seed mix and leave them uncovered. They germinate at around 68 degrees Fahrenheit, in about one to three weeks. Seed also loses viability in storage faster than most herbs, so buy fresh seed and plant it within the year. Start indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, or direct sow outside once all danger of frost has passed.
Planting and Care
Plant seedlings about 12 inches apart in well-drained but moist soil, in full sun to partial shade. Shiso care requires a medium amount of water; keep the soil consistently moist and the leaves will stay tender. If the weather turns exceedingly warm and humid, pinch the tops back to encourage bushier, less rangy growth, the same pinching you would give basil. An indoor herb garden works too, as long as the light is strong.
Flowers, Height, and Self-Seeding
The flowers bloom from midsummer into October and run white to purple. Plants top out at roughly 2 to 3 feet tall before the first frost kills them; shiso is a true annual in Georgia. After the first year of growing perilla, it will easily self-seed in successive seasons if you let even one plant set seed. Gardeners who want leaves, not volunteers, should pinch or cut the flower spikes before the seed ripens.
Before You Plant: Two Warnings
Two facts belong in every shiso article and were missing from the 2015 version. First, enthusiasm: the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox notes that perilla self-seeds prolifically, spreads into disturbed ground and roadsides, and is listed as invasive in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and classified as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council. Read their perilla profile before you plant it in open ground near wild land. A large container on the patio gives you the same leaves with none of the escape risk.
Second, livestock: the same Extension profile warns that perilla can be toxic to cattle. A kitchen garden is no place of danger for people, this is a culinary herb eaten across Asia for centuries, but do not plant it in or beside a pasture, and do not toss armloads of trimmings over a fence to animals. Gardeners with horses or cattle should treat that sentence as the most important one in this article.
You may also read that shiso wards off mosquitoes. The 2015 version repeated that claim with a “supposed to,” and I will leave it exactly there: it is garden folklore, repeated often, and I know of no solid testing behind it. Plant shiso for your dinner, not for pest control.
Where to Get Seeds
Fresh shiso plants and seeds are still hard to find at local garden centers, which is why this article has always pointed online. I ordered the first seeds below myself and they grew very well for me. Each photo and title links to the product, and every listing carries the same disclosure as the rest of this site.
Shiso Perilla Green and Red Seeds, .50 grams
The mixed green and red packet I grew myself. If you only buy one packet, buy this one: you get both classic forms from a single sowing, and you can save your own seed after year one.
Lake Valley 1936 Shiso Perilla Green Heirloom Seed Packet
A green-only heirloom packet from an established seed house, for gardeners who want a uniform patch of ao-jiso for the kitchen. These got very good reviews when this article first ran.
Botanical Interests “Asian Fusion” 10 Asian Vegetable Seed Packets
A gift-box set of ten Asian vegetable packets from Botanical Interests. The wider starting point if shiso is your excuse to build a whole Japanese kitchen garden, which is a fine excuse. Add the basics from my beginner garden tools guide and you are set for spring.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is shiso the same as perilla?
Shiso is the Japanese culinary form of perilla, Perilla frutescens var. crispa. Korean perilla, grown for its larger leaves and seeds, is a close relative of the same species. When a seed packet says perilla, beefsteak plant, or Japanese basil, it is usually this plant, but check the botanical name to be sure.
Why did my shiso seeds not sprout?
Most likely they were buried. Shiso seed needs light, so sow it on the surface and press it in for contact with the soil. Old seed is the second suspect, because perilla seed loses viability in storage faster than most herbs. Fresh seed, surface sowing, steady moisture, and patience for up to three weeks fix nearly every failure.
Does shiso come back every year?
The plant itself does not; frost kills it. The patch comes back, because a plant allowed to set seed drops hundreds of them, and they sprout the following spring. Gardeners call that self-seeding, and it is either shiso’s best feature or its worst, depending on how tidy your garden is. Deadhead before the seed ripens if you want control.
Can I grow shiso in a container?
Yes, and I recommend it for anyone near woods, fields, or a pasture fence. A pot a foot or more across, regular watering, and the same pinching routine give you a full season of leaves, and a container is the easiest way to enjoy the herb without inviting it to colonize the yard.
What does shiso taste like?
Somewhere between basil and mint, with cinnamon and a faint citrus edge, and nothing else in the herb garden tastes quite like it. Green shiso is the milder, more versatile form. Red shiso is more astringent and earns its keep in pickles, juices, and the yukari seasoning made from its dried leaves.
The Bottom Line
The Bottom Line: Shiso remains what I called it in 2015, a great addition to your garden, with better instructions than I gave it then. Surface-sow fresh seed, keep it watered and pinched, and one spring packet can flavor your cooking for years. Just grow it like you mean to supervise it: deadheaded, contained, and nowhere near a pasture.
Worth it if: you cook Japanese food at home, starting with the soba and the grilled corn on this site, or you want one herb that covers the ground of basil and mint at once. Fresh shiso is nearly impossible to buy in Middle Georgia, which is the whole argument for growing it.
Not worth it if: your garden borders open land where a prolific self-seeder would be a genuine nuisance, or you keep cattle or horses anywhere near the beds. In those cases the honest answer is a pot on the patio, or a pass.
Now I want to hear from the gardeners: have you grown shiso, or its Korean cousin, and did it behave itself or take over a corner of the yard? And if you cook with it, what is the dish the rest of us should try first? Tell me in the comments.
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