Fresh herbs can make an ordinary dish extraordinary, and some of the most flavorful kitchen herbs can be easily grown from seed. If you don’t have space for an in-ground garden, many herbs can be planted in containers. It’s even possible to grow some herbs indoors, using grow lights. The closer your herbs are to the kitchen, the more you’ll make use of them.

Here are five easy-to-grow kitchen herbs.

Basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow, and it offers a lot of variety. There are types with leaves so large that they can be used as wrappers around ham or cheese for appetizers. Dwarf basils are every bit as tangy as larger leaf basils, and their compact size makes them perfect for pots or edging plants. Among the many attractive and flavorful full-sized basils are citrusy lemon basil; cinnamon basil; clove-scented purple basil; classic Genovese basil; and Thai basil, which has a spicy anise flavor. Each type has a unique blend of components that make up its essential oils, and give it its distinctive taste.

One thing all basils have in common: they grow easily from seed. Start seeds indoors in a soil mix, or sow them directly in the garden or pot. Three plants will fill in a 12- to 15-inch container in a month or two. It’s a good idea to have extra seeds on hand for successive plantings throughout the growing season. If you find you can’t use them all in the garden, sow them in a flat and use the young sprouts as tasty microgreens.

Parsley is another must-grow herb. It takes up very little space, and makes a good edging plant in the garden or container. Because it is a biennial plant, parsley will not bolt the first year. There are two types: flat-leaf, a.k.a. Italian parsley, and curly-leaf. Both are used in cooking, though curly parsley tends to be favored for garnishes and is an attractive choice for edging. Italian parsley is preferred by many cooks for use in soups, stews, and casseroles. You can never have too much parsley—use it in pastas or omelets, in rice dishes or in salads, or make parsley pesto.

Germination from seed tends to be slower than other greens, so be patient. Keep the soil consistently moist for the 2 to 4 weeks it takes for the seeds to sprout. And be sure to plant extra seeds so you’ll have enough for your own use, and can afford to sacrifice some for the black swallowtail butterfly larvae that will undoubtedly find it.

Cilantro is a relative of parsley, but its taste is very different. Use the chopped leaves liberally in salsas, guacamoles, or as a topping for tacos. Or combine them with fresh lime in dressings, rice dishes or salads. Unlike parsley, cilantro is an annual plant, so it bolts quickly in warm weather. This is not altogether a bad thing, as the flowers attract pollinators and beneficial predator insects, and the mature seeds (a spice called by a different name—coriander) are a common ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking.

Cilantro germinates easily from seed and grows to 18 inches or taller. It prefers cool weather so start it early in spring, and again in late summer or early fall. It mild winter areas it can be grown through the winter.

Chives are green onions with a pleasant mild taste. The two types you will find are culinary chives, and garlic chives, a garlicky tasting herb. Both are 12 inch tall perennial plants with attractive edible flowers, and both have a tendency to self-sow—one difference is that garlic chives can get out of hand and become a nuisance weed. The way to avoid that is to remove the flowers from garlic chives before the seeds mature. Use chives in salads, spreads, and dips; on baked potatoes or in soups; or in egg dishes. Fresh from the garden, chopped chives make just about any dish more appealing.

Sow clusters of 8 to 10 seeds in the ground or in a container and keep the soil evenly moist. They will germinate over a period of weeks.

Dill is not only tasty on potatoes, essential in pickle jars, and much used in Greek and Middle Eastern cooking, it’s beautiful in the garden too. Like parsley, it’s a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies, and it’s a magnet for pollinators and beneficial parasitoid wasps. Dill grows to a height of 2 feet or more, so plan accordingly. No need to confine this plant to the herb garden, it gets along well with many garden plants, complementing tall flowers such as larkspurs, and robust vegetables such as corn and tomatoes. Use dill on eggs, as an accompaniment for fish, and in salads and dips. If you allow it to go to seed, the seeds can be used whole or crushed in breads and soups, or to add flavor to vegetables.

Sow seed in spring where it will have space to grow, as it does not transplant well. Dill generally blooms (and stops producing leaves) about 2 months after it is sown, so make repeated sowings for a continuous harvest.