Gardening

I am thinking of trying my hand at gardening. This may prove to be pointless since I couldn't even keep a potted orchid alive for very long but right now I'm counting the orchid's untimely demise as it's nature, orchids are finicky.

I'm not thinking about attempting anything like this:

I think this is a little too ambitious (for those who don't recognize it, this is a picture from "The Secret Garden", one of my favorite movies as a kid).  But I am thinking of planing some herbs, like basil, rosemary, sage, parsley, and oregano. Maybe something like this

{lollygirl.com/blog/}

I would love to be able to try my hand at growing real food like this 

{gardenguides.com}

But I 1. don't have the outdoor space for that (we have a balcony, no grass) and 2. I've never really grown anything in my life. I mean, I've tried to grow little pots of sunflowers and such but that's it. I can keep ferns and other plants alive, but they have always been someone else's and I just did the watering. Gardening would be an adventure for me and I'm kinda excited about it. Thoughts or comments are greatly welcome!