A cook's garden of flavors.(Home & Garden)

Byline: STORY BY SANDRA D. LYNN D ILLUSTRATION BY CAROL COOPERRIDER

Plant a few easy herbs in your dooryard for the freshest, liveliest meals.

Picture this: You pause as you're tossing your salad or simmering a simple chicken to step out the back door and snip something green and aromatic that will make your meal taste like a gourmet's paradise.

It's as simple as growing a few fragrant herbs, which demand neither lots of attention nor gardening know-how.

An herb garden -- whether a little plot or only a few pots on the patio -- needn't be an intimidating project. This is the spring to start one.

"Herbs use all of the senses -- taste, touch, smell and sight. They just make people feel better," says Sondra Williamson, volunteer manager of the gardens that include herbs at the Rio Grande Nature Center.

Sometimes when she encounters visitors to the center who are looking at the herb garden, she'll give them a snippet of an aromatic plant to take home.

"You'd think I gave them a million dollars," says Williamson.

You can begin your own herb garden by deciding which of the numerous available, enticing herbs you'd like to plant (about as easy as choosing from thirtysomething ice cream flavors). Then check your choices against what might be called "the four Ss" -- space, soil, sun and seasonal schedule.

Start easy

An herb garden can be as specific to your…