My daughter has decided she wants to grow some herbs in her window since she's been cooking with a lot of herbs lately.

She'll be moving in May so she doesn't want to plant them in the ground, but said a big pot to set outside during the summer woulld be ok.

Any suggestions for a little herb garden for her? I've already started some basil seed for her.

I really like chives, but they fill in so slowly from seed.....I would get her a plant

Pineapple sage is pretty and useful, Thymes, Sage, Rosemary. Some herbs are apparently better to start from seeds, while others are better from transplants. Wish you were closer..I have chives popping up everywhere. They are so versatile though..well worth having and pretty too!

One time at one of the garden stores (Years ago) I grabbed some tear sheets of window box herb gardens all grown in 1 rectangular container.. I thought it was a good idea...sorry I can't remember where I got them..I am always collecting bits of paper. much to my husband's dismay!

Oh, I've got a ton of chives. She can have a whole pot full if she wants it.

How does garlic grow in pots? I know that is something she uses lots of.

Funny you should mention windowsill - I have 4 windowsill boxes with herbs in them growing around my deck. Basils are what I have most of in them, with Thai basil and a small, bushy, and very productive basil called Serata, or spicy saber. Both are about 12-14" high max., and 4 grow well in a 32" WS box. Chives and garlic also grow well, but, as Alaskan noted, take a while to grow from seed - same with thyme. Sage grows fast - just trim it, as it gets leggy fast in low light. Rosemary needs a BIG pot - I have two I got @5 or 6" last spring, and put one in a 3 gal (!) pot, and one in the ground. The one in the pot actually got a little bigger (both very large - over 20"), but was rootbound by October. Another one that will get rootbound in all but the largest pots is flatleaf parsley. I had two in a 32" WS pot, and in 2 months they were wilting - couldn't figure out why, until I took them out of the pot and it was a solid mass of roots! Never saw this happen so fast.

Dave

http://www.plantationproducts.com/Medicinal%20Herb%20Gardens.htm

Top of the Hill...Here is a link to those Herb combo gardens... Gives you a good idea of combinations.

Grow what you can use...my staples would be culinary sage, thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, parsley. Stevia would be fun.

She should try to remember not to baby them. My suggestion is to put small pots in a tray with gravel or sand, and just water from below. Herbs thrive on neglect.

Rosemary will root really easily from cuttings, so that's a good suggestion. If it gets too big just snip it back. Or root a new cutting!

I have pineapple sage outside and I wouldn't call it useful. It's pretty and a good grower and attracts hummingbirds et al like crazy, but tea? Only so-so. Useless as a culinary herb. It tastes funny to me.