In gardening, as with real estate, the most important thing is location, location, location. Who wants to trek out to the garden or grocery store every time you need a few springs of fresh parsley or tarragon? The Real Simple solution is the backdoor herb garden, planted in window boxes or containers adjacent to the kitchen. Overflowing with edible flowers, such as nasturtiums and French marigolds, these herb gardens are at once convenient, fragrant, and decorative.

The Window Box

Whether you create an Italian kitchen garden filled with basil and oregano, or a petite Provencal yard of lavender and rosemary, keep the following strategies in mind.

Let the width of your window frame dictate the length of the box. If you can't get the exact same size, go for a slightly longer box. Make sure it is at least eight inches deep and eight inches wide to allow for proper root growth.

Place your planter where it will get adequate sunlight. Most herbs and annuals prefer full sun, which means at least six hours a day, but some can thrive on less. Make sure you can reach your box easily for watering, harvesting, and maintenance. If you don't have the right light conditions or can't affix window boxes to your building, use them as planters and keep them on your back stoop, deck, or terrace.

All container gardens must have drainage holes. If yours don't, drill some that are 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter. Place a coffee filter over the holes to prevent soil from flowing out with the water.

The Plants

Make sure your flowers are edible. Some can be downright poisonous. Seven easy-to-grow culinary flowers are tuberous begonias, calendulas, violas, chives, French marigolds, nasturtiums, and pansies.

Buy organically grown herbs and flowers from a reliable nursery. Or grow them from seed yourself to ensure they are safe to ingest. Using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers on plants you plan to eat is a bad idea. If you need to fertilize your container garden (and some need help), use an all-natural product, such as Herbs Alive! ($6 for a one-pound bag, www.gardensalive.com).

Deal with insect infestations promptly and organically. Herbs are seldom attacked by garden pests, but edible flowers may occasionally be plagued by aphids and the like. If you can't spray them off with a sharp stream of water from the hose, try Pyola, an organic insecticide spray also from Gardens Alive! ($17 for 16 ounces of concentrate, www.gardensalive.com). Check freshly snipped herbs and flowers for bugs. Wash them gently before cooking or using them as a garnish.

Select herbs and flowers that thrive in similar conditions. If your heart is set on rosemary (which prefers drier conditions than most herbs), try tucking it into the window box in its own pot. Then water around it occasionally so it won't get as wet as its thirstier neighbors.

Use a soilless potting mix instead of regular potting soil. Available at all garden centers, these mixes are lightweight (important if you are hanging your box) and have a loose consistency (giving roots plenty of space to grow).

Water daily. Containers tend to dry out quickly. You can cut down on your watering-can workouts by using polymer crystals, like Soil Moist granules ($7 for an eight-ounce jar, available at garden centers), which help keep roots hydrated if you go away or forget to water.

Snip or pinch off growing tips to encourage thick, bushy growth. Deadheading prolongs the flowering season and keeps plants looking their best.

Resource: Cathy Wilkinson Barash's Edible Flowers: From Garden to Palate ($25, www.amazon.com), is filled with recipes and growing advice for everything from Anise hyssop to yucca. It includes a list of poisonous plants, too.