Sage, dill and cilantro do well in the cooler months. :o)

Shar

First of all, you have to make a list of what you like to grow, then find out about it.
Here in my zone 9b, I grow all the herbs I use for cooking, pretty much year round. Now the spices are in a different category depending again on what you like.

To make a starter herb garden you can go to any big box store and look for herbs that you like. Mints will have to go in a pot, otherwise they take over.

When you have your own herbs growing not only you will have fresh herbs for use but they will also be at a fraction of the cost.

If you get more specific, maybe I can help better.

Silvia

I grow basil, rosemary, mint, and Italian parsley year round.

John

if you grow in pots that are well drained and fairly large, MOST herbs can be grown year-round in fla. yeah, basils will burn in the cold, and thyme struggles in the rainy season. but with pots you can withhold water, move into shade or screened porch (important for dill and parsley with butterflies), etc. cilantro is one herb that i find vexing, since i enjoy it in moroccan cooking. summer savory is one that people should grow more often. oregano can be picky--some varieties thrive, others suffer.

like sylvia said, it's more useful to approach the problem with a question like: i wanna grow parsley. how and when?

Silvia, I can only guess as to what I want to grow by what I mostly use in cooking. Sage, I love this with Chicken, Rosemary also with chicken and pork too. Thyme I don't use much, seems to go mostly with tomato type sauces. Parsley is one I use a lot of. So I guess it is a short list. Can I grow these all in pots like a mix of them in one large pot or should I ground sow them? Is it too late now to grow in zone 10?

Shar

I have always a big rosemary plant in the ground, they are hardy and use a lot in my house. I have it at the east side of the house, gets morning sun, afternoon shade. It can also go in a pot if you prefer. Buy the plant at HD, takes too long to grow from seed.

Sage, I also use it a lot and I have in a shadier part of the garden, also in the ground. You can also put it in a pot. Buy the plant.

Parsley, you can sprinkle the seeds either in the ground or pot and it will be okay. Buy the large leaf one or Italian parsley.

If you only use these 3 herbs, I would plant at least 2 of each. In different spots, one in ground and one in a pot and see which one does better. And like Michael said the benefits of the pots are that you can move them around.

Silvia

My cilantro just withered up and died. Any ideas as to why? It was quite annoying as this is the second year I have tried cilantro unsuccessfully.

Probably the celantro didn't like the humidity in the summer. It does much better in the cooler months.

cilantro likes our spring, but can't tolerate our summers. i sow seeds from my spice jar and that works GREAT. i wonder if anyone has had success with culantro? it never does well for me, but it's often marketed as a hardier cilantro, meant for summer growing. it does NOTHING for me.

epazote grows like a weed here.

Cilantro likes cool weather, in the heat it bolts. I have culantro growing under the bottlebrush tree, it is growing well there and is a good substitute for cilantro. It is stronger flavored so I use less.

Silvia

There is another herb called vietnamese cilantro that I have grown a few times. It certainly smells like cilantro, but I have never actually tasted it because I have some vietnamese friends. ;>) They like it with baby duck eggs.
How can Cilantro (coriander) be such a popular herb in Mexico and Central America if it won't stand a hot climate? I can grow it in the spring, but after May, nada. Same with Dill. Thai basil and Globe basil do well even in the hot months. I've had chives growing in the same pot for years. Oregano seems to better in drier weather.

Your local Farmer's Market can be a great place to purchase herb plants .
With a record high of 90 degrees predicted this week , it might be too early to place Fall herbs in the ground just yet .

What about dill? The cool weather herbs I always start about now are parsley & dill. I grow fennel as well, but I prefer the bulbing type to use as a vegetable.

I am growing dill and fennel in my zone 9b. I like to use fennel as a vegetable also.

Silvia

i love dill (the slav in me). it is SO HARD TO GROW except for a month or two in spring. then it does great.

I have dill on the side of the house, morning sun, afternoon shade. That is where I grow most of my herbs, because is elevated it has good drainage. All the herbs are planted close together and kind of shade one another.
One of my favorite soups, dill, potatoes and leeks.

Silvia

I grow my cilantro and culantro in the shade with bottles stuck into them so I only water when the bottles are empty

I agree about the dill being happiest during a short window of time in the Spring - fortunately a few plants will provide enough to last us through most of the down time.

Since there is so much more than I can use fresh during the growing season, what I do is pick lots of sprigs & freeze them whole, packed pretty tightly into a wide mouth glass jar. The leaves & stems are simple to add to whatever I'm cooking; they crumble easily while frozen & the stems can be chopped up, if desired.

Glass is better than plastic, IMO, because it's more airtight, so things don't get stale.

Thanks for all the info. I now have Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme... :)couldn't resist lol...Basil (how do I keep Basil from flowering?) and Cilantro....the Rosemary is quite large.

My neighbor and I are of two minds re: basil flowers. I pinch the tops to use in dishes instead of going for the lower leaves so mine never flower. She lets them flower and set seed, then rubs the seeds off into the dirt so they can grow. I'm ready to be converted to her method as I've never seen anyone who could grow basil in such quantities like she does... always plenty of fresh plants coming in behind the old ones. I also think the flowers look swell sprinkled on mashed potatoes and pasta salads.

Dill grows great during the winter and early Spring, but that is true, the window of time is too short. BUT, you can collect seeds and use them! We use dill seeds in cooking a lot in my home country - add it to potato dishes, when pickling, soups - nice flavor!

My mom also chops dill and mixes it with salt, and stores the mixture in the refrigerator in a glass jar, all winter long :) (Since summer is when dill grows well in Russia)

Hey, I've had good luck with sweet basil and parsley, but rosemary seeds never sprout. I start them off in a small 2x2 pot I use successfully for flowers, etc.

I've never tried rosemary from seed. About 10 years ago I bought a small rosemary plant and every 2 or 3 years I start new ones from cuttings off the parent. An individual rosemary plant usually lasts about 4 years for me (grown in a large bowl shaped pot).

John

I have been planting the Basil seeds so I have plants in several places. I guess I don't use enough of it to keep it from flowering. Anyone have experience with mints? I sure would love to grow some of that but don't know which kind I should try. I have my cilantro and all my herbs in the shade and they seem ok so far. They still have the heat and humidity and bright light but no direct light. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Sharon