My 2 cents on herbs:

Rosemary, thyme and lavender will grow in terrible conditions of poor soil,
dryness and full sun - it takes work to kill them. Plus they all remain green
all winter; I frequently have dug through some NJ snow to cut a sprig in winter
- carefully, I may add.
Oregano is also very tolerant of poor conditions, but it can spread a lot if it
goes to seed. I have "Greek" oregano because I love the furry leaves, but it
shows up in the lawn, in any empty space - almost as bad as mint.

Sage comes in all sorts of varieties and colors, and is a great herb for
cooking.
Basil is also wonderful, but needs a little more attention and water. There is
nothing better than having fresh basil to add to a tomato salad, and the dried
herb tastes like a very poor imitation.

I have grown a lot of herbs of all sorts, but these are the ones that I make
sure I always have, and the ones I would recommend to a novice. There are a lot
of herbs that are pretty or nice to grow, but these always get used by me.

Lastly, anything in the mint family is also easy to grow, but make sure you
plant it in a container buried in the ground if you plant it in a garden, or it
will BE the ENTIRE garden in a few months. I use mint and catnip all the time,
but I swear I pull as much out for being a weed as I cut from the intended part
of the garden. If I didn't love mint tea as much as the cats love the catnip,
it would be LONG gone....


-=epm=-

In matters of truth and justice,
there is no difference between large and small problems,
for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein