Glad to hear L. 'Alba' is tough -- I have 6 little plants from a greenhouse sale that I'm placing & planting today. Sometimes I lose one without knowing why also, but I have learned that good drainage in winter is key... make sure to plant them up on a mound if you don't have a spiffy raised bed. :-)
I've got lots of little basil seedlings to fill in gaps... started a couple of varieties that are really more decorative than culinary, and I'll let them flower and seed right away... well, I'll pinch them a few times just to get them bushy.
One of my favorite thymes for that cottage garden feel is definitely 'Rose Petal Thyme', which I picked up at a plant fair several years ago. It has a wonderful rose/herbal scent, and the leaves are softly silver-green, almost a blue cast to them. I've never tried to cook with it, but I'm trying to spread it here and there in the garden. It's a tough one, borders one of my rock-lined pocket gardens (on the outside!) without complaint.
