Perennial Herbs That Will Grow Like Weeds And You'll Have Them Forever!...

The Mints: Peppermint, Spearmint, Bee Balm, Pennyroyal, Catmint, Catnip...  All these are what is called invasive.  That is, you have to be careful where you plant them, or they'll take over your garden.  Mints do best in full sun, but they will also grow in partial shade.  I love them all.  Mints make great tea, - used fresh or dried.  Pennyroyal is used to repel insects; it's toxic, so don't eat it.  Catnip is stronger than catmint.  Not all cats like it; some are just not interested.  Catmint likes to grow near wood.  Mine is growing partly under my south facing wooden porch. There are exotic varieties of mint: chocolate mint and pineapple mint.  Make a wonderful "Mint Julip" by putting a couple jiggers of Southern Comfort in a tall glass filled with ice cubes and some sugar, to taste.  Slightly crush a sprig of fresh mint and shove it down into the glass.  Then, you can pretend you're a pre-Civil War southern lady or gentleman, sipping your drink on the balcony of a mansion in New Orleans French Quarter. 

Oregano: Plant a little oregano and in five years you'll have more than you know what to do with!  Of course, it's famous for Italian dishes.  It can take some shade.  Make oregano vinegar by crushing the sprigs a bit and placing them in red wine vinegar.  It makes a couple of months for the essence of the herb to go into the vinegar, but then you can make a pretty and classy label for the bottles.  Your friends will rave as you bring your homemade oregano vinegar to dinner parties, as a gift!

Lemon Balm: It smells wonderful, like freshly cut lemons.  You can make a tea of it, fresh or dried.  I made furniture polish of it by placing the sprigs in mineral oil and leaving them to make up a couple of months.  I suppose lemon balm vinegar for salads could be made too.  Lemon balm will also grow in partial shade.

Garlic chives: I never did get a whole garden of garlic chives, but I have a good amount of them.  They grow like grass.  You snip them for your cooking.  The flavor is mild.  You can make garlic chive vinegar, or, garlic chive oil.  Make sure the herb is completely dry when you place it in extra virgin olive oil or corn oil, or the oil will turn cloudy.  Cloudy oil must be thrown away.  Add a bit of salt to retard spoilage.  Garlic chives do best in sun, but will also grown in partial shade.