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 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 1-2 feet 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 1-2 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 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 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 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 1-2 feet 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 fast, bushy annual culinary herb in the mint family (Lamiaceae), native from southeastern Europe to western Asia. NC State Extension describes an erect, multi-stemmed plant about 1.5 feet tall and 1-3 feet wide, with linear, gland-dotted, aromatic dark-green leaves and small lilac, pink, or white summer flowers. It grows rapidly — harvestable within a couple of months of sowing — and is prized for its mild, slightly peppery flavor. Grown as a warm-season annual, it wants full sun and sharp drainage and does poorly in damp soil or shade.

A low-water edible palette of culinary herbs + a hardy grape for hot dry sunny sites. Mediterranean-origin plants thrive on neglect; their primary failure mode is overwatering, not underwatering.