I've said for years that I'm going to put an herb garden in. The end result so far has been a few random chives that keep popping back up next to my climbing rose. Well this year I decided to just stop stressing about the perfect spot to plant or how to arrange them, I'm putting them in pots and scattering them around my patio. They don't look like much yet, but as they fill in, the pansies will go, but I'll find some other flowers to replace them with. I like the look of flowers mixed in with the herbs, even though the herbs are quite pretty on their own. I'm hoping to end up with about 4 or 5 pots full of herbs by the time I'm done.
The warm and early spring we've had has me chomping at the bit to get out and plant everything, but so far I've held back, only putting some cold-loving pansies in with the few herbs I've started.
I have one of my favorites to cook with, English Thyme. It's something that I cook with often and a small plant will yield quite a bit over the course of the season. Being able to walk out and snip a few sprigs anytime I want, to add some to potatoes or for my famous roast chicken, is a great feeling. It's fairly quick growing, hardy and very low maintenance. 
I also put in some common dill. This is great for almost any type of fish, potatoes, potato salad or to freshen a simple pasta salad. It grows "like a weed", quick as can be and can also take some serious snipping and just keeps producing.
I added a French Lavender that while I know of no way to cook with, it smells wonderful and as it flowers I can cut small sprigs to dry and put in drawer sachets or even small cut flower style bouquets. The leaves and flowers can also be crushed and the oil extracted to scent items. Lavender oil is great for headaches, just a bit of the oil rubbed on the temples can relieve a headache and the scent can soothe a fussy baby.
The last one I've put in new is a dwarf curry, which I must admit, I know nothing about. I have some reading to do to figure that one out. But isn't that the fun in gardening? Planting new things, finding out what works, what doesn't. What I'll do with the herbs I'm experimenting with is just another part of that. The smell of the crushed leaf is amazing. Absolutely curry. Makes me crave proper English chips with curry sauce. I'm thinking these might be harvested and dried, then ground, but research awaits on that.
I'm planning to add a pot with different types of basil and parsley as well as sage and tarragon. I had a couple of different sages planted in flower beds last year and they did very well and the taste of fresh herbs can't be matched. I'm determined to plant as many herbs as possible this year and find out, at last, what grows well, what I like and what we'll use. Then maybe next year we'll do a more permanent space. On the other hand, the pots would be kept going indoors through the winter, if only the cats would leave them alone...
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