[240173paul]

On my last allotment I has chives and mint in the ground.  I am now thinking of sinking 12" diameter pots int to the ground and putting various herbs in them, and I have a couple of questions:

1 should i put shingle / ballast at the bottom of each pot for drainage

2 What herbs are you successful with on you patch - oh and perenials only - her indoors deals with annuals

[arugula]

In reply to q1 - yes. I have sage, thyme, rosemary and different types of chives but all of these, bar one bunch of chives, are in the ground. I replant basil, coriander and parsley every year.

[mumofstig]

Rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives and garlic chives, mint in a pot.sage is a goner this winter, so will have to start again and I've just sown seed for orange thyme 
Parsley, 2 types of basil, fennel and dill..sown each year 

[arugula]

Forgot mint, how could I ?

[compostqueen]

My established thymes have been killed off by the looks of things but I'm not giving up on them just yet. These are in pots and in the ground. Sages somewhat damaged but look like they'll rally.  A French tarragon in a pot looked a goner but has come back to life and looks fab.  My rosemary in the ground looks to have died but again not giving up on it just yet

I have tonnes of chives in the ground on my plot, mint in big pots, lovage in the ground which looks great at the moment,

Basils, parsleys, dill all grown from seed fresh each year.  My oreganos seem to thrive on neglect but I put them in containers as they are a bit invasive. 

[Pol]

I have thymes, sage, mints, french tarragon, chives, rosemary, fennel, and a curry plant lost the bay now growing coriander, parsley and basil
If you have holes in the pot I would say no need for shingle but I maybe wrong