Thai Basil
Add a deep clove-like flavor to your Asian dishes with Thai basil, a variety of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora). Its bold flavor holds up to robust ingredients, such as garlic and curry. Plus, the herb’s purple-tinged stems and purple flower spikes look great in a container garden. And, unlike growing common basil, you won’t need to regularly pinch off its blooms because it keeps producing leaves even as it blooms.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall
Zones: 2-11
Cilantro
Brighten the heat from chiles and curry pastes with the cooling and citrusy flavor of cilantro (Coriandrum sativum). This herb’s abundant leaves are often used to add fresh flavor to soups, stir-fries, and salads. Fresh cilantro is easy to grow, but if you want a constant supply, sow seeds every two to three weeks. Be sure to harvest cilantro leaves when they are young and tender for the freshest flavor.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall
Zones: 2-11
Lemongrass
Add a citrus-like scent and flavor to your cooking and herbal tea with lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus). If your winters are mild, you can grow it as a perennial and harvest it all season long. Its vibrant green foliage and strappy texture also double as a beautiful ornamental grass that can be grown as a tall, bold focal point among lower-growing herbs.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall
Zones: 8-11
Variegated Lemon Thyme
Give your salads, soups, stews, sauces, meat, and fish dishes an added lemon aroma with the leaves of variegated lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus ‘Variegata’). The gold-edged leaves of this thyme variety make it easy to create a colorful herb garden that’s full of texture.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 1 foot tall
Zones: 5-9
Herbs for Italian Cooking
These are fast-growing, tender, leafy herbs that like consistent moisture. They respond well to regular harvesting and are productive throughout the summer.
‘Genovese’ Basil
Add ‘Genovese’ (Ocimum basilicum ‘Genovese’), one of the more intense and true varieties of basil, to your classic herb garden plan. Its sweetly flavored leaves give a fresh aroma to pasta and are a key ingredient in Italian pesto. Make sure to plant basil outdoors after nighttime temperatures are consistently above 45°F and daytime temperatures are warm.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall
Zones: 2-11
‘Hot and Spicy’ Oregano
The leaves of this oregano (Origanum ‘Hot and Spicy’) might be small, but they have a strong aroma and add a peppery bite to Italian cuisine. Unlike most oregano that grows upright, this variety sprawls and looks great growing over the side of a pot.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 18 inches tall
Zones: 4-8
Parsley
Offset extra-spicy food with fresh Italian or flat-leaf parsley (Petroselinum crispum) grown just a step away from your patio door. You can even use it as a breath freshener after your meal. Plus, its lacy leaves add texture and beauty to a container garden or plot.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 1 foot
Zones: 2-11
Herbs for French Food
These strongly flavored herbs have similar growth habits and rarely dominate one another. When they are frequently cut, they stay productive and tender. In their natural habitat, they grow in sandy, gravelly, or even rocky soil that is often poor in nutrients.
Bay Laurel
Growing your own bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) gives you convenient access to the plant’s shiny green leaves, which add a distinctive flavor to long-simmering soups and stews. Since many French recipes only require one or two leaves to season a recipe, your bay laurel plant will likely look leafy and not overharvested, so it will be easy to showcase the plant’s beauty in a container or in an herb garden.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade
Size: Up to 15 feet
Zones: 8-10
Marjoram
Grow marjoram (Origanum majorana) to season French-inspired soups, sauces, vegetables, and meats. This perennial, which is often grown as an annual in colder climates, has leaves that are milder with a more delicate flavor than the leaves of perennial oregano.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet
Zones: 9-10
‘Berggarten’ Sage
This cultivar of common sage (Salvia officinalis) is valued for its milder flavor. Like other French herbs, it thrives in warm, dry conditions and withstands drought once established. It is part of the classic French herb mix Herbes de Provence.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet
Zones: 5-8
Rosemary
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) requires a little patience because it grows much more slowly than other herbs, but over time, it can grow into a shrub. Potted rosemary remains much smaller. If you are in Zone 7 or below, be sure to overwinter your rosemary plants indoors. Take containers outside in mid-spring after the last frost date.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
