When it goes right, you just cannot beat it! Some herbs are just like that. What you need to do is put them out and make sure that your plants get sunlight and plenty of water and your herbs will do the rest.

Here are some of my favorite low-maintenance herbs for your garden:

• Borage: Boil the leaves to reduce the chewy texture, because without this, the long, fuzzy and prickly leaves are not easily edible. If you grow your borage plant in dry, dark earth and give full sun, you will have blue or purple star-shaped blossoms in no time at all. You can start from seeds in early summer and by mid-summer you’ll have all the borage you can handle.

• Caraway: The leaves of this biennial are a lot like the foliage of a carrot during the first year. When year two comes around, white or pink flowers that sit in umbrella-shaped clusters replace the carrot-like leaves on 1 to 3 foot stems. Caraway will take full sun if you plant it in well-drained earth. Sow the seeds outdoors in spring or fall. Your caraway will self-seed if you don’t remove the dead blooms.

• Dill: Dill is one of my favorite plants to look at because of its thin, fern-like foliage. Dill will grow fast for you as long as you give it with well-drained soil and full sun. Don’t let your plant get more than three feet tall before you begin using it in your recipes; you can start harvesting once your dill reaches one foot. Dill is great for floral arrangements because of its beautiful, yellow umbrella-like heads, which can also be used as a seasoning. These will grow great from seed and because this plant grow fast you will not need to start the germination process in advance.

• Fennel: Don’t confuse your adult fennel plant with dill because the two are similar, but it tastes nothing like the licorice flavored fennel. If you sow your seeds in late spring, you will have a mature, 4-foot-tall plant in just a few weeks. Plant them in full sun in well-drained soil for the best results. Don’t forget to harvest the delicious seeds! Don’t let the seeds get brown. Dry them and use in baked breads, soups and stews.

• Lemon Balm: The aromatic lemon balm perennial has cute heart-shaped foliage will grow well in well-drained sod with either full sun or a little shade. Seeds will take too long, instead begin with a home improvement store-bought lemon balm and set it out in a pot or in your flower bed. Before you know it, you will be able to divide your lemon balm plant and replant the divided section in another spot. Don’t feel like you have to plant the new part beside the old one, because lemon balm will grow through self-sowing. If you want to stop self –sowing, pinch off all the dead flowers.

• Sweet Cicely: This perennial grows in light shade as long as you provide loose, rich dirt. Be sure to add in mulch and organic compost. Since sweet cicely is a self-sowing plant you’ll only want to buy the first couple of plants and it will take over from there.

These aren’t the only good herbs either … there’s plenty more to choose from, including Queen Anne’s lace and dandelion.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Home Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.