I am a novice herb gardener who's had fair success with my current "pocket" herb garden next to my back door steps -- a little too hot and dry, but I've been successfully harvesting herbs for my modest, cooking-for-two culinary uses.

This fall I'll be moving to a new home. I'm trying to decide where to locate a new herb garden on the new property. One possibility is a small patch next to the back patio and our A/C unit; it's sunny and convenient for cooking, but aesthetically it's not the best place, and I'm also afraid that it will still have the too hot/too dry problem. Another possibility is in a large raised bed on the southwest side of the house, where the previous owners were trying (not terribly successfully) to grow azaleas; this is very spacious and has possibilities for some creative landscaping, but I'm afraid that, apart from some afternoon sun, it's too shady -- the type of plants that have been encroaching upon it from the adjoining woods support that. In the past I had very good luck growing herbs in containers, but my cooking outpaces their growing in pots.;-)

Any suggestions? Think I can grow common culinary herbs in an area that only gets 3 or 4 hours of full sun?