Suggest that you first, look at seed packets for growing info and get some concise books on growing herbs, as well as their millions of uses. From your list, I can pick out Cilantro as not being happy with heat or a lot of sun, as mentioned in many recent posts here. Dill, is fine, parsley, basil, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and chives are all fine in sun and heat. Just make sure they do not dry out or the soil gets too dry. A plant can die for many reasons, its location, soil conditions, water, nutrients, bugs, diseases, and many other factors must be considered. Some herbs will flourish well in most any kind of environment, but some cannot. I doubt if anyone here can easily answer all the issues you seem to be concerned with., Any plant can die, no matter how well its cared for. Some times, they can die from over doing care too. Buying herb plants and either planting in soil, or leaving in pots is a liitle better for some, as it reduces transplant shock and maybe other issues. Some seeds can survive a cold winter and still sprout the following year. Some seeds do not survive cold weather. Spring is when most are grown from seeds or are bought as small plants. Some seeds take many weeks to germinate, while others sprout in a few days. Some are very slow growing, while others are very fast and would need additional plantings throughout the growing season. All herbs can be grown in a raised bed, but the location of where the bed is, is also important. Most are all started in spring as with most any plant life.

I have grown, or tried to grow most of the herbs you mention. I'm in 7B, GA. Here is my experience.

Dill - I direct seeded into a raised bed in warm weather(mid spring). That was three years ago, and it comes back every year since it reseeds itself. It won't stay where you want it to stay, and reseeds freely all around the bed, but you can pull it up where you don't want it. Grows best in full sun.

Parsley - I have tried several times to grow parsley, but have poor results. I read somewhere that in the South, it grows best in cool weather.

Basil - Plant seed when the soil is warm. If you plant in May, it will come right up. If you keep it harvested, it will produce until first frost kills it. You can start seed anytime during the summer to get new plants. It grows really fast. Loves full sun. Will grow OK in partial sun.

Sage - I started indoor from seed in March and transplanted to garden. It came back for a couple years before really bad cold weather (my guess) killed it. I didn't replant because I don't use sage very often, and it makes a pretty shrub first year, not so pretty after that. (Just my opinion.)

Oregano - Grew from seed started indoors in March. Transplanted to garden in April/May. That was six - seven years ago. It comes back every year, greens up in early spring. Harvests all the way through to first frost. Although toward end of season it is not as robust as in May/June. Loves full sun. Grows OK with dappled sun, which is what it gets in my garden.

Thyme - Is a perennial. I started from seed in Feb. one year. Transplanted to garden in late April. Fairly small during first summer, but you can still cut and use it although sparingly. It stayed green here through winter. Following spring, it started filling out beautifully and set very pretty flowers. I use it for seasoning year-round. It was easy to grow from seed. It's in full sun in my garden.

Rosemary - Is a perennial. I grew from seed originally many years ago (10 I think). It was very slow to germinate, I planted in late spring and it took all summer to get big enough to transplant. Evergreen. Easy to propagate. It makes pretty shrubs so I have several now, all from one mother plant. You can harvest and use it year-around. Ours have been blooming for two three weeks now and are very pretty. There are different varieties, our grows into a very large shrub. Would probably become a tree it I didn't prune every year, sometimes more than once. Our plants are in full sun, well drained beds (very important), and are partially protected from the icey wind we get in winter.

Cilantro - Same experience as Parsley

Mint - Started from seed in March. Planted to large pots in late April. Mints are perennial. Goes dormat at first frost. The spearmint I grow in a container is coming up already. Mint is very agressive and will take over a garden space. For mint in the garden, I dug a large whole, cut the bottom out of a large container and sunk it in the ground with top edge left about three inches above ground. For purpose of keeping mint where I wanted it to grow. Works so far :~).

Chives - Grew from seed years ago. It is perennial. Started indoors in March, transplanted in warm weather - late April. I grow it in several places, it has lovely blooms in late spring. Ours is already coming our of dormancy now. You can harvest from spring through first frost when it goes dormant. Easy to propagate by dividing.

I love growing herbs. Sorry I can't be more specific on timing. Hope this info. helps a little.

I can't second the suggestion to get a good book on growing herbs strongly enough. There are lots of them so find one where the information and its format works for you. The book will help you immensely starting seeds, growing, and using your herbs.

If you are directly sowing the seeds into your garden beds, I would do that the same time you plant corn and put out tomatoes plants in your area. Generally the soil is warmed enough at that time for these seeds to germinate.

If starting indoors, you can start these now - I'm guessing based upon your location. I would check with other gardeners in your area and see when they start their garden plants for best timing.

Parsley is very slow to germinate so be patient. Dill and cilantro I would only direct sow them and not do indoor starting. But you can experiment with some indoor starts and direct sowing with these, if you wish. I personally find the direct sowed dill and cilantro seeds to produce more robust plants.

Your perennial plants started from seed will take a number of growing seasons to get large enough to harvest from.

FataMorgana

I totally agree with getting a book on herb gardening. I've read through several over the years. Growing them in the South has some specific challenges (I'm pretty sure every region has its own set of them). I found the following book most helpful. It was available at our local public library.

*Hill, Madalene, and Gwen Barclay. Southern Herb Growing. Fredericksburg, TX: Shearer Publishing, 1987.

I grow all of the herbs you listed and couldn' t be without them. Except for dill, basil and cilantro all of your listed are perennial (except parsley which is biennial) and also are Mediterranean which means sun and poor soil. My advice is to buy a plant or 2 of a good cultivar of each to start. The plants will be available in the spring at good nurseries. After you get them started, time of the year is a moot point. In mild winters, you will have some of these all winter. If not, they will come back for another summer of good eating. Starting with good cultivars give you the best taste and hardiness. The soil should not be too rich and herbs need a minimum of fertilizer. If you mulch your bed with pine straw or ground leaves you watering problems will be lessened. The cultivars I would recommend are:

Oregano : Greek
Rosemary: Hill Hardy, Arp
Thyme: French upright
Parsley: Soak the seeds overnight in water..An easy way to plant the very tiny seeds is to make "seed tape" using strips of tissue or toilet paper. Fold the paper, place in water overnight and then lay out these strips and cover lightly with soil to plant . It does germinate slowly and grows much better when seeded in soil rather that transplanting.
Mint : plant in a container or it will take over. I would suggest both a spearmint (Ky Colonel) and a peppermint

As far as the rest

Dill: sow as recommended in mid to late March
Basil: plant when the soil in warm. Here in zone 7 that is mid to late MAy.
Cilantro: Last year I found a miracle idea. Cilantro will bolt in the heat so is absent in the south in the summer. I read to sow a packet of seeds in a large pot. Then treat the cilantro as "cut and come again".. It never has a chance to bolt and worked wonderfully.

To help provide a variety of soil moisture types in a smallish space, I plan to make an herb spiral. Google Herb Spiral and you'll get loads of info on how to build them and even a few pointers as to what herbs are better placed in what part of the spiral. The stones placed in the spiral serve to help heat the soil around them up and keep it warmer into the night...important for the heat loving herbs.

I hope to create at least 4 spirals for my yard this year....to fit all the herbs in...assuming most actually germinate and grow reasonably well... 2 kitchen spirals and 2 medicinal spirals.

Wish me luck!!!

Earlier this year I planted Dill and Fennel in April. The Fennel was not successful (seeds might have dried out and died), but the Dill did grow. I had two kinds of Dill, Tetra and Mammoth). It looked nice at first, but then died out after a short time, I think from the heat. By April we already have many very warm days, some in the 90s.

I just planted Dill and Fennel seeds about 10 days ago. Looks like it's coming up and doing nicely so far. I also have six nice healthy Fennel plants that came up on their own (must be from the Birds, I have tons of Birds in my garden). The volunteer Dill plant are doing very nicely.

Cilantro always does well in my garden during Fall-Winter and early Spring, but come April, it doesn't do very well, and dies out by June-July. The heat here is very intense.

I'm hoping that the small patch of Mint I planted (from cuttings around April-May) will continue to spread. It's in a nice spot with shade during the heat of the day, and is still growing nicely.

My Sage survived the Fall-Winter (2010-2011). Had several plants in the ground and several in a large pot. Those plants are still growing, but slowing down a bit now.

My Thyme and Oregano are still growing. I just trimmed them back about a week ago to dry and add to my spice collection.

Lots of Basil still growing. I'll have plenty of Basil for myself (I drink lots of Basil Tea, and eat the fresh leaves for my stomach problems), and will also give away lots of Basil .....

I also planted lots of Stinging Nettle and Dandelion seeds, which I think are already coming up. I enjoy drinking Stinging Nettle Tea and steaming the leaves to eat with Fish and Rice. I'm hoping to dry lots of Dandelion Flowers, Leaves and Roots ....

-- Jim (Central Valley, California)
> Climate Zone #8/14
> Hardiness Zones #8-9a

Earlier this year I planted Dill and Fennel in April. The Fennel was not successful (seeds might have dried out and died), but the Dill did grow. I had two kinds of Dill, Tetra and Mammoth). It looked nice at first, but then died out after a short time, I think from the heat. By April we already have many very warm days, some in the 90s.

I just planted Dill and Fennel seeds about 10 days ago. Looks like it's coming up and doing nicely so far. I also have six nice healthy Fennel plants that came up on their own (must be from the Birds, I have tons of Birds in my garden). The volunteer Dill plant are doing very nicely.

Cilantro always does well in my garden during Fall-Winter and early Spring, but come April, it doesn't do very well, and dies out by June-July. The heat here is very intense.

I'm hoping that the small patch of Mint I planted (from cuttings around April-May) will continue to spread. It's in a nice spot with shade during the heat of the day, and is still growing nicely.

My Sage survived the Fall-Winter (2010-2011). Had several plants in the ground and several in a large pot. Those plants are still growing, but slowing down a bit now.

My Thyme and Oregano are still growing. I just trimmed them back about a week ago to dry and add to my spice collection.

Lots of Basil still growing. I'll have plenty of Basil for myself (I drink lots of Basil Tea, and eat the fresh leaves for my stomach problems), and will also give away lots of Basil .....

I also planted lots of Stinging Nettle and Dandelion seeds, which I think are already coming up. I enjoy drinking Stinging Nettle Tea and steaming the leaves to eat with Fish and Rice. I'm hoping to dry lots of Dandelion Flowers, Leaves and Roots ....

-- Jim (Central Valley, California)
> Climate Zone #8/14
> Hardiness Zones #8-9a