Herbs can fall in several categories, but most will grow well in full sun or light shade, and also thrive in well drained, fertilized soil.   

An Annual is a plant that completes its entire lifecycle in a year.  There isn’t much you can do about keeping Annuals around longer than that, but you can try.

A Biennial is a plant that completes the life cycle in two years.  Most biennial’s form a base of leaves for the first season flower stalk for the second.

A Perrenial is plant that normally lives for three or more years. 

A Tender perennial is a plant that is perennial in frost-free climates but dies when exposed to freezing winter temps.

Annuals Herbs:

Coriander  (Cilantro!) 

This is my favorite herb in the kitchen garden.    It quickly produces ferny leaves, followed by clusters of pale flowers.   Since Cilantro is so quickly used, you might want to include it in several pots or plots, and grow several plants throughout the season.  

Cilantro

Basil 

Basil is known to be used to aid in digestion and can settle the stomach.  When I was pregnant, I would eat a couple of basil leaves in the morning while watering the garden. It seemed to work, but it could have been a placebo. 

Basil

Basil can grow to be over 2-3 ft. tall!   Sweet basil is the most common for cooking, but there are several varieties to choose from including purple, Thai, and several other varieties and they are all tasty.

You can seed basil into the garden after the frost-free date in your planting zone, or buy plants that are already usable.  Herbs are pretty cheap to buy if you are only purchasing a couple of plants.  Usually you can buy a basil plant at your local nursery for around $2-$3.

 Plants will remain productive if you pinch off the flower spikes before the tiny white flowers open and harvest leaves and branches.  Don’t cut the entire plant!

These basil seedlings will need to be planted in a bigger pot.  I am waiting to find something free to plant it in. 

Dill 

Dill self-seeds regularly, so if you just leave it to seed at the end of the season, you can be almost sure to have a crop next year. It might not be return where you want it, but at least it might come back!  If you are planting dill in containers, it probably won’t go to seed.  Pick the tender fragrant leaves and the possibilities are endless!

Dill seed

Parsley

 Two kinds of parsley are popular; Curly Leaf parsley and Italian (or flat leaf) parsley.   Both are similar to Cilantro.   Italian parsley has a stronger flavor, and the Curley Leaf is what you might see as a garnish.   Most people grow parsley as an annual.   Harvest the stems on the outside edges of the plants, and new growth in the center will provide a long lasting supply.

Italian Parsley