Right now we have mint, rosemary, parsley, basil and chives. I use them all often. Dill and cilantro are also faves, but I’ve not had good luck growing them. I tend to use dried thyme and oregano more than fresh.

I normally grow rosemary, thyme (lemon thyme recently), mint, basil.

My many years old rosemary bush is not looking well after a tough winter so I may need to start again. I’d like to have chervil and tarragon but I think they are more sensitive.

An invader has attacked my herb garden and I'm going to have to get the landscaper in to dig it completely up. If one is careful, there still is a giant pink flower sage bush, though the little purple leaved ones may have died. The good tarragon. Three kinds of thyme which have joined forces to become ground cover. Two kinds of oregano, and Mexican oregano which is a wholly different plant. Rosemary and lavendar. There were chives which reseeded themselves, but they died out, finally, and they're too cute to pick. Jalapeños didn't thrive. In the back where there's some shade I had basil and mint, which grew well but the snails would come for the basil and eat up the mint as well. It seems to be doing better without the basil. I started out also with some parsley, which was lovely, but didn't like the temperatures and a couple others that never took. I feel like I'm forgetting something... But we never ever have frost, get a lot of sun, and while the general area can get hail, I have only seen it once in this house, and that was just a passing notion. It didn't kill anything.

Most used: Mint, rosemary, thyme, Mexican oregano, tarragon. But for quickie stuff that just needs a little zhuzh, I use a lot of dry, mostly Fines Herbs and Herbs de Province.

Rosemary can’t survive the winters here. I grow parsley, basil, mint, cilantro, oregano, dill, sage, and chives.

I don't grow any herbs indoors except basil which I can only grow in summer in a greenhouse. Outside I have rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, fennel, chives, mint and bay, which grows to tree proportions if not heavily pruned. Cilantro and dill bolt too fast so I've given up on them. Most used are rosemary, bay, sage and thyme.

I start oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, sometimes lavender, basil, and shiso under lights inside each spring, although this year I seem to have successfully overwintered (and used regularly) the rosemary, thyme, and sage, so will not need to those from seed this year, yay!

I start parsley and cilantro and sometimes chervil outside early spring, love it! The cilantro bolts, but those green seeds are delectable and I can 'succession sow' it 3 times in a summer. The chervil will sometimes overwinter.

I always try fennel but rarely get a good bulb . The yellow fennel flowers are very tasty and I use that for cooking so it's well worth it for that and for its ferny loveliness.

I also have a mint that survived the winter indoors and we've used it from time to time , the leaves are small but tasty. I have quite a bit of mint that's perennial but it doesn't have much flavor so I should work on just getting rid of it - the tastier mints don't make it for me outside, so I purchase a few each year from the nursery .

New for me coming in the mail from uprising seeds are mexican tarragon and sculpit, recommended by awaytogarden.com podcast

One of my favorite herbs is tarragon but it is persnickity for me, it will survive a winter but not grow vigorously and also won't overwinter indoors. I buy a few from a nursery most years in hopes of finding a 'sweet spot'. (any growing advice appreciated)

I dry oregano, marjoram, and thyme each fall and still have a good amount that I use regularly.

I grow a number of others that are more for tea or medicinal use, but maybe that's another topic.

I grow basil and oregano. I do like Basil and use it some. Though I plant masses more of it than I use, for 2 reasons. First, my sister makes and cans marinara sauce with homegrown tomatoes and herbs, and I grow to supplement her supply which is perfect excuse for reason 2, I use it as a companion plant to my tomatoes. So it works out. I also grow oregano, which is my favorite herb. I love Greek oregano most of all, I love the smell, and often walk around my garden chewing on a couple leaves I have plucked. I often throw lots of fresh oregano leaves in salads, and I also dry some to cook with in the colder months.

I will occasionally do some thyme or rosemary. I do not use those much though.

I grew some catnip for George one year. Catnip+Full Moon= Insane Kitty. I still have some seeds, but i do not know if I want to go there again.

My most used herb is parsley and I have it growing near the back door. In other areas around the garden there are oregano, mint, thai basil, lots of sweet basil, chives, tarragon, vietnamese mint, sage, thyme, greek basil, lemon verbena and a large bush of rosemary. Do you all know the old saying that rosemary thrives where the woman is boss of the house Hah!

Because we have had various country holiday homes over the years, most of my herbs have been grown from cuttings and transplants. I still have chives from a dug up lump from a house we had in 2006, likewise the oregano and rosemary are from cuttings from cuttings even earlier.

Regarding a country holiday home I have good news coming up in a few weeks. DH and I have been missing the beautiful huge eucalyptus trees and native birds of our countryside and although we said ”no more” we have done it again. I‘ll tell more nearer possession date.

@neely...looking forward to the "news".

Lat62, herb fennel doesn't make a bulb. Florence fennel does. I only grow the former and use it for leaves and seeds.

I don't know where you live but thyme and sage are hardier than rosemary. Perhaps you could overwinter them outdoors?

Our weather is not really conducive to growing rosemary year around so I have to replace it yearly. I do have oregano, marjoram, sage and thyme. I usually grow basil in large pots. If winters continue being on the warm side, maybe rosemary can be grown on the southeast side of the house where it is sheltered!

Floral, thanks for the tip. I do grow the florence fennel that is supposed to form a bulb (I thought of it as an herb but technically is it a vegetable?) Most years I don't have the heart to harvest the bulb because it looks pathetic and sort of elongated rather than bulbish... but those yellow flowers, yummm! I grow bronze fennel also, I think it flowered last year? Off to check my photos on this cold March winter day.

On occasion the thyme and sage have overwintered outdoors, but not reliably. I'm happy to have overwintered 'half-whiskey-barrel' sized pots indoors this year, so that has been a treat to use throughout this winter. I am looking forward to a second-year growth of the rosemary - I dream of growing a real shrub if I can continue to overwinter (I try every year but maybe haven't treated them right - this year more water and under lights has made the difference). How big does your rosemary get ? Does it get below freezing very often ? tree-sized bay sounds lovely. My husband's family lives in California, so they take those herbs for granted and always shared generously during visits where I came home with bags full of rosemary and bay.

"Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme " are my main ones. I have too many others as well.

I love to make some dishes using the four herbs for Valentine's Day, because " Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme " lyrics are very appropriate for VD.

This coming year, I added Perilla (Korean Shiso) for sushi making.

One of my good friend lives in Scarborough. He gave me the cuttings to start my Parsely, sage, rosemary, and thyme plants .

dcarch

In the summer and fall, we have, growing outdoors: rosemary, tarragon, thyme, sage, basil, mint (err, too much mint), sometimes chives. Enough herbs for me.

The winter is the problem. I have a few sad basil plants on the kitchen counter by the window, but the winter sun just isn’t sufficient.

I want to hang some shelves in front of that window and hang some serious grow lights for a year-round herb garden. I installed outlets in the ceiling for exactly that purpose. Just haven’t had the time.

Bronze fennel should flower. The herb, both green and bronze, can grow to four or five feet and lives for several years. It's far easier than Florence fennel. I don't use the flowers because I like the seeds. Rosemary comes in various growth types but the plain old shrub can be waist high if not pruned. We do get occasional freezing temperatures but not prolonged and not deep. Both rosemary and bay can take a frost.

Ps. You can't start parsley from cuttings. It's a herbaceous biennial and needs to be raised from seed. You could start with seed or small plants but not cuttings.

A herb which is a weed in my garden is wild garlic, Allium ursinum. It's in season now and I make batches of pesto for the freezer. It's ephemeral and disappears in summer.

Oregano is another I forgot. Hardy and self sows.

Marjoram, rosemary, thyme, bay, basil (seasonally), Mexican oregano, oregano, and occasionally sage.

Usage depends upon what I am cooking frequently at that particular stretch of time. I use a lot of marjoram when making bulk supplies of spaghetti sauce, a lot of thyme and bay when seasoning pork bellies to smoke for bacon, rosemary when I have repeated requests for rosemary/parmesan focaccia and basil when making pasta dinners or meatballs.

I have perennial herbs and then annual herbs that I plant each year. My perennials are rosemary that lives in my unheated greenhouse and still managed to survive those -30F nights we had this winter and a small protected bed in the back of the house that has thyme, oregano, chives, sage and some spearmint that is trying hard to take over. I also have lavender there, if that's considered an herb. Annuals I plant every year include basil, lemon basil, cilantro, parsley, cilantro and dill.

I use all the herbs depending on the season. When I have fresh tomatoes I use a lot of basil. I always stuff a handful of herbs inside a roast chicken and that handful will include thyme, sage, oregano, parsley and rosemary. The lemon basil is used the least but I still plant it just because I like to crush a leaf and sniff it. Cilantro is mostly used for salsa and spearmint makes tea.

Herbs for roast chicken is probably my most used, but I also use a lot of parsley.

Annie

Sages, oreganos, thymes, savories, marjoram, lavender, and rosemary. Several kinds of mint. Basils, cilantro, dill, parsley- parsley grows year round in bins under greenhouse caps outdoors. Bronze fennel- the kind used for the seeds. And bulb fennel, though I consider that a veggie instead of an herb. Lovage and a few varieties of celery. Wild chives grow by the bushel around here, heh. Sassafrass for file and "woody flavor" clippings in the smoker. Sumac and juniper for the berries. I've grown out cumin, mustard, and coriander for seed. Nasturtiums. And a bunch of different herbs for teas and medicinal use.

I have parsley, chives and basil as annuals, rosemary and sage as perennials and usually add one or two others like tarragon and sariette which is a kine of thyme..... I get over-enthusiastic in the garden centre so I try and curb my enthusiasm lol

Annie, I'm impressed you have rosemary that can overwinter in your unheated greenhouse, that's wonderful!

Floral, thanks for your info about herb fennel (I'll keep on trying florence fennel as a vegetable anyway, it's a habit by now and there's always flowers) - I googled to see that herb fennel should overwinter even up here in Anchorage, Alaska, but I haven't seen it come back... I would love to have the flowers and also seeds if I had enough, so I'll flood my sunniest areas with extra seeds - also, maybe I'll get more butterflies :) your climate sounds lovely; as I age I'm thinking about moving to a slightly less wintery climate because I'm not getting out skiing like I used to. I could not handle hot summers, but might appreciate warmer winters, where the rosemary, bay, and fennel can thrive ! But this is home, I've lived here since age 19, 1983.

I will add that I grow lovage for its wonderful celery flavor and its hollow stalks to be used as straws in our father's day bloody marys :)) And chives are always aplenty !

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that big lovage plant that comes back year after year. Nancy/wizardnm gave me the first start and I've had it for at least a decade. The only problem is that it gets so big I can't possibly use it all. The grandkids like to make "flutes" out of the hollow stems, although they aren't really very musical. The stems, not the kids, LOL.

Annie