Here are some of our favorite natural herbs and what they can be used for: Basil

Basil tastes great in Italian foods as well as casseroles and even bread. This plant can grow to be 2 feet tall and produces white flowers with dark green and sometimes purple leaves. Basil doesn't like cold weather. So you'll need to make sure you wait until well past the last frost to plant them.

Chives

These clumps of green spikes with their violet flowers make a very aromatic addition to any garden. Tasting much like onions, you can snip a bit from chives stalks and add to any dish you want. Put them in omelet’s, soups, salads and casseroles - anything that needs an onion flavor will benefit from chives. This perennial will come back each year, but you want to divide them every couple of years so that they don't get too crowded.

Dill

We all know that dill tastes great in many recipes and it can be a fun herb to grow, too. This plant produces small yellow flowers with feathery bluish green leaves and can grow to 4 feet tall. It's an easy herb to grow from seed. You can simply toss some into your garden and see how many "take". These natural herbs like full sun. You want to be sure that each plant has about 8 inches of space between them so each can get the nutrients and sunlight it needs. The flower heads can be used in cooking.

Lavender

Lavender is often used in aromatherapy as a calming herb. It also makes a beautiful plant in your garden and is quite fragrant with pink or purple flowers on tall stems which bloom in the middle of summer. They're not that easy to grow from seed, so you might want to get plants that are already started from your garden supply store and then plant them in full sun and in soil that has very good drainage and is slightly alkaline. These perennials will come back each year.

Parsley

Parsley has many culinary uses and is also an easy herb to grow. This is a biennial, meaning that it blooms every two years. You can grow them right your garden or even in containers. They can get to be a foot tall.

Peppermint

This is another fragrant natural herb that can grow to be 2 feet tall and has a wonderful scent with small purple flowers. Peppermint has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries and is also great to have as a tea, or added to any dish when cooking. These herbs like a moist soil and partial shade.

Rosemary

Rosemary also has its place in many dishes including salads and meat loaf's. The dark green leaves make an aromatic addition to your garden. Giving up clusters of pink or pale blue flowers in the spring they can be planted indoors or out.

Sage

Sage is another culinary herb that has a wonderful smell and can grow to 2 feet when planted in full sun. You can grow them from seed or from stem cuttings and, as long as they have a well-drained soil, they are pretty easy to grow. They can be a little bit invasive; so you'll have to cut back their great green feathery leaves often. Sage is a very hearty herb so you'll be able to enjoy their lilac flowers year after year.

Thyme

Growing right outside your kitchen door, thyme can be a great herb to add to many dishes, and it also adds beauty to your garden with its wonderful aroma and pink and purple flowers. The plants only grow a couple of inches tall and make a great ground cover.

Natural herbs are a great addition to any garden, you can plant them alongside your other flowering plants. They will be aesthetically pleasing as well as useful in the kitchen.