Never had a problem grwoiing from rosemary seeds if they are PRIMED seeds (mentioned in another post here). You may be over watering the plants. Potting soil is NOT good to use as it will hold onto too much moisture. I use a seed starting medium that is mostly soilless and has coconut husks ground up. My rosemary get to about 2-3 inches tall when they get planted outdoors. The basil, for me will always lean when shorter than about 1 foot. I plant them outdoors too, and try to bury the roots and part of the stem to support them to stand upright. Once out in the garden, they tend to grow just fine. In all my years of starting virtually everything from seeds, I never have much of a problem.
The toughest plant I have ever done was a double blossom impatien. These require cold temps below 60 degrees and striong light to germinate. Once they do sprout, the area must be kept humid and cool. Needless to say after attempting to start 60 plants from seeds, I only got about 12 plants to survive after 2 months.

Thank you ks!
I will see about finding a proper medium to start my rosemary in today. I have been trying to germinate them in potting soil. Do you think sand would work? Lord knows I have enough of that here!

I am (im)patiently waiting for it to finally stop being rainy and cool here so I can get out and get my herbs in the garden. I still have to sit down and come up with a nice design for one too.

This spring I started Fennel, Lemon Balm, Echinecea and Basil, Rosemary and Oregano. The last two didn't make it! Now I know why. I just started Bay Laurel, Sage, Thyme, Burdock, Savory and more Oregano and Rosemary a couple of weeks ago and purchased plants of Lavendar, Jasmine, Lemon Verbana, Patchouli, Chamomile and Peppermint. I am lucky enough to have a large sunroom on the east side of my home so I have the room!

Thanks, your reply was most helpful and I'll get a new medium for my Rosemary.

Sincerely
Tamara

Sorry, sand would not be very good for rosemary seedlings, or for seed starting. Sand doesn't seem to hold any moisture and even though rosemary likes good drainage when growing, it does much better germinated in a seed starting medium. These mediums are not really soil, but contain vermiculite, peat moss, perlite, coconut husks, and a few other things that give airation and moisture in a moderate amount. The primed seeds are cold and heat treated to get them to sprout more reliably. I buy mine from Johnny's seed in Maine. I tried sprouting some of the left over rosemary seeds I bought last year, but they didn't sprout this year. Luckily, I have bought another packet for this year too, which sprouted just fine back in March. They got planted outside last week and already have 4 new sets of much more pointed leaves. When mature, the leaves get very aromatic and sticky to the touch. Kind of like a pine tree would give you.

I think some rosemary varieties are more likely to spread out rather than just grow straight up. The one I have in my herb pot is of the prone type, it branches up as well as out.

Cheers!