Parsley

A clumping perennial onion-relative forming dense grass-like tufts of hollow tubular leaves + globular lavender-pink flowerheads in late spring. Edible leaves + flowers; among the easiest perennial vegetables for beginners. Globular flowerheads are major early-season nectar sources for honey bees + native bees.

A rhizomatous, upright herbaceous perennial of the mint family, most commonly grown as a culinary or medicinal herb and as a ground cover. A natural hybrid of watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata), it carries fragrant rounded-to-lance-shaped toothed leaves on square stems and showy pink flower spikes in mid- to late summer. Native to Europe, it spreads aggressively by rhizomes into an attractive ground cover and rarely sets seed, so it is propagated vegetatively and is best confined by a soil barrier (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

A tender perennial herb in the aster family (Asteraceae), grown for its remarkably sweet leaves - per the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder the foliage contains glucoside compounds and tastes notably sweeter than sugar with no calories, which is why it is also called sweetleaf. Native to Brazil and Paraguay, it forms weak, floppy stems to 12 to 24 inches tall clothed in oblong, toothed leaves, with small showy white flowers in July and August. Winter hardy only in USDA zones 10-11; across most of North America it is grown as an annual or overwintered indoors, and leaves are best harvested before flowering.

A bushy, lemon-scented herbaceous perennial of the mint family, grown for its wrinkled, ovate medium-green leaves that crush to a bright citrus fragrance. Tiny two-lipped white-to-pale-yellow flowers appear in the leaf axils through summer and draw bees. Native to southern Europe, it has escaped gardens and naturalized across much of the U.S.; frequent pruning keeps it leafy, curbs self-seeding, and produces the most fragrant new growth.

An Old World cottage-garden annual grown for daisy- to chrysanthemum-like flowerheads (3 to 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 fast, fine-textured cool-season culinary annual in the carrot family (Apiaceae), native to the Middle East, Russia, and the Caucasus and now grown worldwide. NC State Extension describes an erect, spreading plant about 12 to 24 inches tall with light green, feathery, finely divided (tripinnate) leaves - like a more delicate parsley - and a mild aniseed scent. Small white five-petaled flowers open in saucer-shaped umbels 1 to 2 inches across in spring and summer. It is generally grown as an annual (occasionally biennial in milder areas), prefers cool weather in moist, well-drained soil, and is a classic component of French fines herbes, prized for a delicate flavor best used fresh.

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

A compact cut-and-come-again bed of salad greens and culinary herbs for near-kitchen harvest: cool-season leaves, a warm-season basil anchor, and a perennial herb backbone.