I love planting annual herbs each year. Most of them require less care and watering than other annual plants — and they have great aroma and uses to boot.

1. Basil — This has to be my favorite of all herbs. It’s so versatile with many cultivars to choose from, including lemon and spicy scented to purple leaf, lettuce leaf and dwarf forms (the small spicy globe plant make excellent trees in fairy gardens).

Make sure you keep pinching back the growing tips to keep your plants bushy shape and to delay bolting by cutting off the flowering spikes.

They are very tender, so make sure you don’t put them in your garden until they have been hardened off and all threat of frost is past in spring.

Use leaves in vinegars, salads, sauces, herb butters and pesto . Nothing tastes better than a garden fresh tomato sandwich using basil instead of lettuce. I gather leaves to make pesto, some I place in jars to keep in the refrigerator while others go into ice cube trays, that I freeze and add to vegetables and soups all winter long.

For a spicy warm drink, make a cup of basil tea by steeping leaves in hot water.

2. Calendula (pot marigold) — This annual presents a colorful display all summer if blossoms are deadheaded when spent. Flowers range from pale yellow to deep orange and are sun-lovers, opening at dawn and closing at dusk. The petals are used in salads, rice, herb butters and as an inexpensive substitute for saffron. They also give a spicy flavor to tea.

This annual will reseed, so watch out for new plants.

3. Lemon Verbena — This isn’t a showy herb, but the lemon flavor is a must for teas and jellies. For a refreshing addition, I drop some leaves into my water bottle. I have overwintered this plant, but it gets too woody after a few years.

4. Nasturtium — Place this plant or the seeds in poor soil that is well drained. If you plant it in fertile soil along with too much watering, you will only get a mass of leaves with very few flowers.

The bright flowers will brighten up any garden. Flowers have a peppery taste and are used in salads, herb butters or as garnish.

5. Scented geraniums — The aromatic leaves are used for flavoring beverages, jellies, flavored sugars, fresh or dried tussie mussies (talking bouquet) or sachets.

They must be brought in before frost, but by taking cuttings, you’ll have a winter houseplant to be placed outside come next summer.

The main difference between scented geraniums and zonal geraniums, beside the unbelievable fragrance, is that the flowers are tiny on the scented ones. I always plant one by my back door so I can enjoy its scent while passing in and out of house.

You’re sure to get strange looks from your family when you start adding flowers from herbs to their meals, but tell them to be brave: salt and pepper aren’t the only seasonings. We’ll have more on cooking herbs in the coming weeks.

For more information on annual herbs, go to http://go.osu.edu/annualherbs.

Baytos is an Ohio State University Mahoning County Extension Master Gardener volunteer.