just kidding. I will share that at my old house I had some Thyme stuck in a spot that broke all the rules about herbs - deep shade, solid clay, lots of weeds, etc. and it thrived! I can't explain it. I planted seedlings of it in every conceivable place and that was the only spot where it grew bigger and bigger each year.

I think some of the rosemary's grow faster than others and most of mine have done better in normal rich garden soil but in a spot that never gets watered.

Two highly usable herbs I like to grow are Lemon Basil and Shallots. The only better lemon flavor herb is Lemon Verbena but the basil has a stronger flavor for cooking. Shallots can take a while from seeds but once you have them growing you can harvest one or two bulbs from the cluster and the plant will just make more. No need to wait til fall to dig (like garlic), just pluck some whenever. Plant a lot of it if you like to cook.

I'd also advise if you let your parsley go to seed, it will go on in perpetuity. It's a biennual, so you may have to plant it 2 years running, but after that you'll be golden with it as well as basil. I really love thai basil and lemon basil as well as the smaller leaved type. I find the large leaf type has too much licorice flavor for my taste.

Rosemaries can be funny, but once it's happy, it will get too big. My best success has been planting them on top of a wall- short rock or taller retaining. They need great drainage. They can take a decent amount of shade as long as they stay dry.

John- the thymes that look best for me are mostly 1/2 shade or more, too. I think thyme has an unfortunate tendency to get woody, twiggy sticks like that- at least, it has for me. It does root fairly easy- you could try cutting one of the two and rooting it- and watch and see if the orig resprouts, too. If it does, you can safely cut the other & root or use. It's always a good idea to have a couple thyme plants since they can go for a long time then suddenly peter out. My favorite is lemon thyme, and you can get a beautiful variegated version.

I'd keep your oregano potted. It runs in the ground and will make/take over a fairly large area. Lemon verbena has proved to be hardy for me here (you can always take cuttings end of season). Another fun herb -esp for kids- is stevia. The leaves are sweet as candy. I found it was hardy about 4 or 5 yrs in a row, but each year it came back smaller and later til it finally died out. May partly be b/c it was in more shade than it would have liked.

Lemon grass will get huge in a summer here (5-6' x 3' around). Cats adore the dried grass top 4' or so and you can use the bases for tasty Asian dishes. It's not at all hardy so no worries about it over winter- just yank it all out. You can overwinter a small part of the base in a cool area that stays frost free.

Sage is tricky to keep happy here. It does not like our humid summers. I've had more luck with bergarten than the straight up culinary sage, but haven't had it for a few years now. The leaves on it are larger & rounder but taste the same as the species.

Another slightly finicky one for here is lavendar. The english stuff doesn't like our humidity (it can be grown, it's just harder without perfect drainage), and the french isn't hardy here, but it loves the summers. The best is spanish, which looks and smells a bit different than traditional, but's very nice just the same. It will get big and horsey when it's happy, like rosemary.

I'm wondering if the key to your problems may be in your statement that you "covered with about 6 inches of mulch from a tree that we'd cut down".

If you used freshly ground wood chips you may have created a nitrogen deficency that has affected the growth potential of your herbs.

I would suggest a soil test from the area to determine the needs of your planter.

My herbs thrive on neglect. About the only thing I do to them is whack them back mid to late summer when they start looking straggly. The main bed is full hot sun, little water, but some fairly good soil from years of working that bed and mulch every couple of years. Some years all it gets is the leaves that have blown into it. Oregano I control by really cutting it back in the spring and then just yanking the excess now and then. Aside from most of the ones already mentioned, I also have lemon balm, echinacia, garlic chives and regular chives, elecampane, stevia, bronze fennel, some I can't remember right now, etc.... Lemon balm can be a thug, but I love to make tea out of the fresh leaves and it handles being severely pruned with no problems. Bronze fennel is so beautiful and a host plant so it's a keeper. Mine adds a new baby every so often and I usually pot them up for the plant swaps. Plus it makes a bounty of seeds for the kitchen. If you know someone with a large rosemary, ask for some cuttings and then stick them around in different areas, see what works. Then once it gets some size prune it occasionally and stick the cuttings back into the ground. Then IF/WHEN mama dies you have new ones ready to take her place. You can also use the long stems as skewers when you grill.

The one thug I run from is the purple basil. I really believe my great great grandchildren will be weeding it (if they lived here) long after I'm gone!! White garden sage needs a cooler spot and a little shade, even then once you let it bloom it's done.

Tammi... when thyme gets woody try just covering it with some soil or mulch. It'll usually take off from there for me. I have so much of it though most of the time I just whack it back and it comes out again. Chamomile is nice, love it's apple scent when it blooms.

You asked for another to grow....dill. It comes in both bouquet and mammoth. I am not sure what the difference is, but I plant both. It is easy from seed and is pretty prolific for me. It can also get quite large. I plant lots because the butterflies lay eggs on it and I get caterpillars and more butterflies.
I use the leaves and when it goes to seed, I harvest those too.
Murphy

My DIL gave me a 'boxwood basil' last year and it was wonderful. No chopping required so no blackened,bruised leaves and the fragrance was intense but somehow softer.
Nice round form of growth and small leaves about the size of boxwood leaves.

We grow all the ones mentioned above and would also suggest chives and fennel. We also grow both flat and curly parsley. While we do cook with some of them our herbs are grown primarily as host plants for caterpillars and just the beauty of them and the scents. I am working on a rather large lavender bed starting most of the plants from seed. I also grow several different kinds of mints but they are in containers because of their aggressive behavior. I have several different thymes but for the life of me can't keep wooley or silver thyme alive.

My main herb bed is on a slight slope and has a lot of permatil worked into it - full morning to mid-afternoon sun .....

Lynne

Sorry that I didn't reply sooner. My son came down with an allergic reaction to something and since he's only 13 months old, it was pretty scary for me. So, thank you so much for all your responses.
I love lemon and I love Basil, so John thank you for that suggestion.
Tammy, I will try rooting the thyme. I was so afraid that I'd lose what little I have left, so this is a perfect solution. Great idea on the oregano-- the thing is taking over the pot entirely, so I'll leave it where it is. Funnily enough, my sage is thriving? Stevia sounds fun. Have you seen it locally? My daughter, LOVES to pick my herbs, so this sounds like a fantastic choice for my garden. I have two lavendar plants planted about 18 inches apart. One is completely thriving and about to bloom and the other, is scrawny, woody, more than half has died off, but what is left is ready to bloom. Weird!!
Farmsteward, I'm sure the mulch did a number on the soil, so your suggestion is a great one, thank you.
I think I'll also try mulching the thyme and see if that helps it along. I might have to try dill also. I like the look of the plant, although I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of the taste. Although, having said that I don't think I've ever had fresh dill, so perhaps I do like it and just don't know it. :)
Also, I swear I have chives growing in my yard, but I never planted them. Could they be wild? And if yes, are they edible? They look exactly like a chive, have a small purple bloom right now and when I snip some and rub it between my fingers, it smells like a chive? Thoughts??
Thank you everyone for your wonderful advice.

There are wild forms of garlic and onions growing here. They smell great but usually don't taste like much when cooked. They are impossible to completely remove from a yard, they are a constant problem weed.

I also have "good luck"( as my grandma would said growing herbs),this year I'm trying something new stevia I got a pot that has about 6 little plants so I run out space in the garden and also I'm concern about black ants getting to friendly with my plant does anybody have experience with this a 3 gallon pot will work?,should I divide or plant the whole clump?also I would recomend planting cilantro at this time is problably better if you do it on a pot so you can move it around or it goes to seed with the heat maybe is just me but I love it on fresh salsa the homegrown it does not compare with the stuff at the grocery store.

Stevia works well in a pot. You can then take it into a garage and let it go dormant and it'll go go go the next spring. In the ground it may or more likely won't come back, so it's a good hedge. Also, i've never noticed ants bothering mine.

Cilantro is a cool season plant. Don't even bother trying it now- it will go to seed almost as soon as it's planted or sprouts. Next year start it/spread seed in the early fall. It takes a while to sprout. Same with parsley, BTW.