Killing Thyme

Most years we throw two clumps of basil and a cilantro plant in with the tomatoes and carrots and that's the extent of our herb garden.  This year, instead of trudging down the back stairs in the sweltering heat, walking over to the garden and trying not to step on any of the other plants, hoping I'd picked all I herbs I needed, and trudging back up the stairs again, (I know it doesn't sound that bad, but I am on the lazy side), I planned to do a "kitchen garden" of herbs, in pots on our deck.

I imagined myself stepping easily out the sliding glass door off the kitchen and cutting a bit of fresh basil or rosemary.  It sounded idyllic but it was not meant to be. Turns out I have a brown thumb when it comes to growing herbs from seed.  I'm wondering if I even planted the parsley...

The only two plants to do anything were the rosemary and cilantro...which were not started from seed.  I know the cilantro looks bad, but I kept forgetting I had some at home and continued buying it at the market.  If you look closely  you can see the little beige buds on the drying stems and I will now have fresh coriander seed when a recipe calls for it.

...and those few bits of green in the oval planter?  That's basil.  Luckily, before I got my brainstorm, my hubby bought some starter plants and put them in the usual spot.  Don't think I could do without fresh basil for the summer.