An Old World cottage-garden annual grown for daisy- to chrysanthemum-like flowerheads (3-4 inches across) in bright yellow through deep orange, often with a contrasting darker center disk. In cool climates it blooms over a long summer-to-fall window; in hot summers it tends to languish and may need a midseason cutback to rebloom. The somewhat bitter flowers and lance-shaped aromatic leaves are edible, and the petals lend color to soups, rice, and baked goods.

A low woody herb for sunny edges, between pavers, and herb-garden borders with pollinator-friendly summer flowers.

A Mediterranean herbaceous perennial forming a spreading mat of small aromatic leaves + open clusters of small pink-to-white flowers in summer. Strongly attractive to honey bees, bumblebees, hoverflies, and small butterflies; among the best edible herbs for pollinator support. The cultivars used for cooking (Greek oregano, Italian oregano) are selections of this species.

A Mediterranean evergreen subshrub with gray-green velvety foliage + lavender summer flowers. Among the most useful kitchen herbs + a strong nectar source for honey bees, native bumblebees, and solitary bees. Perennial in zones 4a-8b; longer-lived in well-drained alkaline soils.

A low, ground-hugging evergreen shrub of the Rocky Mountain West (also called creeping Oregon grape; NC State files it under the synonym Berberis repens). It spreads by underground stems into a holly-leaved mat 12-24 inches tall, with blue-green pinnate compound foliage that flushes bronze-to-purple-red in winter, fragrant yellow flower clusters in spring, and glaucous blue-black grape-like berries in summer. Tough, cold-hardy, and shade- and drought-tolerant once established — among the best evergreen native groundcovers for dry shade.

A biennial Mediterranean herb in the carrot family (Apiaceae) grown as an annual for its leaves. The garden 'parsley worm' — caterpillar of the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) — feeds exclusively on Apiaceae foliage; planting parsley is among the simplest ways to host a multi-year swallowtail population. Flat-leaf (Italian) selections have stronger flavor than curly selections.

A vertically stacked edible polyculture: nut-bearing canopy, fruit-bearing understory, berry shrub layer, herbaceous layer, and groundcover for temperate eastern North America.