Nicole's Take: The best herbs to grow in shade are the ones you grow for their leaves. Parsley, cilantro, dill, mint, chives, and green onions will all give you steady harvests with just 3 to 4 hours of direct sun, while basil, rosemary, and oregano really do need your sunniest spot. I learned this building my very first client gardens in tiny, tree-shaded city yards, and it's still my rule today.

Most of those plants are things we grow for their leaves. Leaves have the least demands in the garden. They don't need as much space, as much sunlight, or as much care from the gardener.

Think about this: if you're walking through a forest, what type of plants grow in the dappled light under the huge tree canopy overhead? It's not flowers. It's not fruits and nuts. It's small leafy plants.

That's why herbs are the ideal plants to grow in shade. Let's look at the best herbs for shady areas.

Cilantro, Dill, & Parsley

Let's start with herbs from the Apiaceae family, AKA the carrot family. Cilantro, dill, and parsley are three of my favorite herbs from the garden to use in the kitchen.

This trio shares similar growth habits. First, they love cooler weather. They thrive when the temps range from 35 to 65°F (1.7 to 18.3°C). They also love it when it's not too sunny and bright. If you've ever had cilantro or dill go straight to flower, it was likely too hot and sunny for their liking.

With that in mind, if you've got a completely covered patio or shady balcony, cilantro, dill, and parsley could be your new best friends. They don't mind the shade one bit. My two back raised beds are completely shaded by the woods behind my house at this time of year, and my parsley, dill, and cilantro plants growing there are popping, especially the parsley, which came back from the winter.

If you haven't grown any of these herbs before, picture a carrot with its long taproot and tall spray of leaves. These herbs grow very similar. They send down a little taproot and grow more vertically than horizontally. That means you can grow 4 to 6 Apiaceae herbs in 1 square foot of space.

These herbs are easy to grow from seed. Cilantro and dill will last one season, while parsley can spend several seasons in your garden.

Summary: You can grow cilantro, dill and parsley in the shade, I promise. 

Mint, Thyme, & Sage

The next group of herbs comes from the Lamiaceae, or mint plant family. I'd say about 95% of the herbs we use in the kitchen come from this one family, including oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram, lemon balm, and of course, mint.

These herbs also share similar needs and preferences with each other, though some tolerate shade more than others.

The first shade-loving herb in this family is mint. Mint actually prefers partial shade to full sun. The mint plants I tried to grow in tons of sunlight just would not thrive. For this reason, mint makes excellent ground cover around trees. You can also put it in planters tucked up under your porch, out of direct sunlight.

Thyme is a creeping herb that looks beautiful cascading over the side of a pot or raised bed. I'll be honest, it really prefers sun. But it'll hang in there in part shade with at least 4 hours of direct light. Just expect a smaller, slower harvest, and keep the soil on the drier side so the roots stay happy.

Then we have beautiful sage, which prefers sun but tolerates light shade. Give it the brightest corner of your shady spot.

All three of these herbs grow in temps ranging from 35 to 95°F (1.7 to 35°C). I recommend buying plants from the nursery instead of trying to start mint, thyme, or sage from seed since they're very slow to take off. You'll absolutely get your money's worth after just a couple of harvests. You can also root cuttings in water or sand.

Two more herbs from this family that will grow in shade are winter savory and marjoram. They're less well known but equally easy to grow in sun or shade.

Chives and Green Onions

The next group of herbs comes from the Amaryllidaceae family, or the onion plant family. Now, you don't want to try to grow bulbs underground with less than 6 hours of sun, but the green tops grow great in shade.

Garlic and onion chives both work so well along the border of a raised bed. They come back year after year and will give you so many delicious harvests. Chives are such a no-brainer because they're ridiculously easy to grow and thrive in sun or shade. The same goes for green onions and scallions when you grow them for their leaves.

Rather than start these by seed, you can buy little baby plants from your local nursery or plant out bulbs.

Chamomile & Calendula

The final group of herbs comes from the Asteraceae family, or daisy plant family. Chamomile and calendula both do great in the shade, even though they're flowering herbs. They'll just grow slower in shade than they would if they had more sunshine.

Chamomile, of course, can be used to make chamomile tea, and you can use calendula for salves, tinctures, and tea. I love having calendula in the garden for pest control. It's what we call a trap crop, so it distracts pests that would otherwise go for your leafy greens like lettuce and kale.

Herbs That Should Be Planted in Full Sun

These are the herbs I would not put in shade:

• Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Bay laurel (which is a bush or small tree)
• Flowering herbs besides chamomile and calendula (echinacea, rudbeckia, etc.)