okay... which ones died? And what did you do to the plants when you brought them home?
Root rot in Seattle could be a common occurance. For the plants like rosemary and 'purple' sage, which like it on the dry side, you will have to mix the soil with a lot of perlite to give drainage.
basils like water, so they are okay. if they died, could be from some shock, which is why I am asking what you did when you brought the plants home.

We need more details, but at first glance it appears likely that you've overwatered your plants, and/or the drainage isn't as good as it MUST be.

thankyou guys for replying quickly! thats realy awesome! okay let me try to give more details(i'll try not to wright a novel again). when we brought the plants home we put aprox 2/3rd potting soil in the container made a hole in the middle, loosend the root ball, place in the hole, add some more potting mix and firmed lightly and gave a generous 1st watering. the pots are 8" and oh 12" high.
2 weeks ago though we started having a heat wave. when the
wife and I got home from some galavanting the thai basils
were all droopy i gave them a good watering and they perked
up again within 1 1/2 hrs. after that is when the problems
started. the pots have holes in the bottom and after i water i elevate 1 bottom side to make sure enough water drains. if you need more info just let me know! thanks :)

oh i forgot to ask this, was the all purpose miracle grow potting mix not a good choice?

I have (maybe) a similar problem that I'd love to get some advice on.

Every year, a few of my basil plants wilt and die. The dead plants are right next to or in between the healthy plants so I'm thinking it's not a matter of too much or to little water, but who knows?

The lower leaves start sagging and wilting and fall off and this condition spreads upward to the rest of the plant until there are no leaves left.

A dead plant could be right next to one the biggest producers that I have and all my plants were started from seed in the same potting soil mix and planted at the same time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Bart

Well, you CAN over water a plant! :o) I don't care for Miracle Gro, but that's just my preference. Too high in peat moss or something, and I am more of an organic kinda gal. Basiljunkie, I have a feeling that you killed them with shock... that's my guess, when you tear up roots, you have to give them shade while they build more roots, or they don't put energy into that, they put energy into growing, then they die. Mostly, you don't really need to mess with the roots unless a plant is really root bound.
Bart... what did you have your basil next to? I couldn't even guess until you say that.

Heathen -
My basil is mostly next to more basil! I have a very small bed with 4 tomato plants, 1 parsley, and about 20 basil plants.

Bart