Last year was one of the hottest summers on record in DC, so we didn't spend as much time on the garden as we should have. But I tried to maintain the basil so that we could have plenty of pesto for the winter.
Typically, when annual herbs start to flower, it signals the end of their life. This is true for basil, cilantro, dill and others. (Perennial herbs like sage, oregano and thyme will flower and grow bushy, but they'll repeat the process year after year. You should cut these back after the growing season.)
Anyway, the annual herbs perform better and longer when you pinch off the flower buds as they appear. In the case of basil, once the plants start to produce flowers, the leaves will get really small. They'll still be usable, but they're more annoying to pinch off to make your pesto. In order to get the nice, big leaves like you can buy at the supermarket, you need to keep your basil flower-free.
Basil plants run rampant:
Pinching off all of the flower and top 2-3 leaves:
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