Leslie, this may be of some help:
Growing Herbs in the Home Garden
Anise, I haven't grown anise . . . anise hyssop, might be my favorite tea herb.
Balm, what kind of balm - bee balm? That's a monarda.
Sweet Basil, Siam Queen Thai Basil, find a nice warm place to start the seed and grow the seedlings. Wait until it is nicely warm out of doors to put into the garden. Keep the flowering tops picked off for a longer harvest. You have a "sweet" basil for tomato sauces with one and, as you can imagine, one for Asian noodle soup and such with the other, not-so-sweet. Annuals
Caraway, I've grown sweet fennel, isn't that like caraway? Easy annual.
Chives, you might want to keep it contained but I don't. Easy to start and it is willing to grow in quite a bit of shade. May even do better there since shade delays flowering . . . unless you like the flowers.
Coriander (Cilantro), another annual. Likes it cool and will bolt to seed with the summer heat - you can use the seed as "coriander." The nicest cilantro I grow are those plants left to over-winter in the garden. All in all, I have trouble keeping a steady supply. I understand that it is grown commercially in greenhouses year around.
Lavender (vera), my DW doesn't care about it . . . sometimes, I can't figure out that woman. I don't recall trouble starting it indoors and transplanting.
Sweet Marjoram, grew this for the 1st time last year and didn't come up with any special uses - nice fragrance. I think it would be a bit nicer than oregano in pasta and pizza but I'm much more inclined to use basil than oregano. It is sometimes called "knot marjoram" and that has to do with what it looks like. Don't think it is sick - it's just a kind of small plant that ties itself into knots.
Horehound, some kind of mint . . . ?
Parsley (Paramount), start this every year in the greenhouse. It is a biennial. No real problem, use care when transplanting to protect root. Once you've got this established it will reseed itself just fine if you don't want to start it yourself.
Peppermint, some kind of mint . . . actually, it may just be "mint" since most of these should be propagated by cuttings rather than seed. That's okay, it may be just what you are looking for. Best to keep it contained. It also takes some shade.
Dill, another annual and it will reseed. Start in pots and be very careful setting out or just direct seed it in the garden. Hard to time it perfectly for pickles so you can do 2 things. Cut it and dry it and use that or reseed it every few weeks early in the growing season. Best to do both and use little plants for seasoning this and that in the kitchen.
Summer Savory, I think I've grown this but can't remember . . .
Thyme, I know there are special ones but I don't think that for culinary use there needs to be. Not much of a cook but that's my impression. Find a location where other, taller plants won't smother it. It should pretty much be fine from here on out.
Oregano, I'm not the biggest fan of oregano maybe because I don't have a special variety - don't know. As I said, I'll use basil instead, every time. Grow it like thyme but it probably isn't quite as hardy even if it's taller.
Sage, this one is probably like thyme and the common variety from seed is just fine. Once you've got it, you shouldn't have much trouble keeping it.
Leek American Flag, I like leeks but I've grown this variety twice (probably out of a misplaced sense of patriotism). It didn't compare well, at all, to Lancelot even if that makes me sound like someone who wears tights and frolics about in Camelot.
Steve
