Ideas for an Indoor Herb Garden

It gets so hot where I live that many herbs can't survive the extreme temperatures. I have a particularly difficult time growing cilantro and lavender, two of my favorites. That being said, I love fresh, organic herbs, and I have a great indoor area with ample natural light exposure. So, I started doing some research on growing an indoor herb garden. I found this slideshow by HGTV to be helpful, 13 Easy Herbs to Grow Indoors.  Good Housekeeping mentions some of the same herbs as the slideshow (i.e. Basil, Rosemary), but they also added a few new ones like Chervil and Tarragon. My first attempt is underway in a re-purposed fish bowl. I simply layered some rocks on the bottom, soil on top, and then seeds. I started with Sage, Tyme and Cilantro. The Sage and Tyme are well started, but the Cilantro died initially. So, the sprouts you see are my second attempt. I also purchased some small organic herbs at the farmer's market and did the same rocks and soil layering in mason jars (inspired by the photo below that I found on a great blog, http://livinthecrunchylife.blogspot.com).  Do you have an indoor herb garden? If so, send me some comments or post some photos. I would love to share ideas and insights.

my indoor herb garden in an old fish bowl

mason ar herb garden photo from http://livinthecrunchylife.blogspot.com/