All hail herbs: they're pure pleasure for a gardener - inexpensive, easy to grow, bursting with fragrance and flavor.

Byline: Virginia A. Smith

Jun. 2--Kathy Hawkins is crazy about summer basil. She grows it outside, inside, everywhere she can. She even keeps a pot of it on the kitchen counter, so all she has to do is pinch off the leaves, chop them up, and sprinkle them on her luscious homegrown tomatoes. With every pinch, there's a bonus. That heavenly basil fragrance fills her South Coventry Township kitchen for hours. "I absolutely love that smell," she says. Hawkins, 46, is not an expert by any means, but she successfully grows lots of herbs every summer. And why not? They're easy. They're fun. They smell great and look pretty. And all but the most exotic herbs are cheap -- $2 or so for a small pot -- and easy to find in garden centers or big-box stores. Like many herb growers, Hawkins insists on super-fresh ingredients when she cooks, whether they're for cucumber salad from the garden or hot Mexican and Thai dishes.

But not everyone's a chef.…