Your bad air quality is worse in the afternoon - which means a bit of extra haze blocking the blue end of the spectrum, so IMHO morning light is better. And shade during the heat of the day is good too.

Dan

Forget the cilantro in your area. Mine's already bolting in the Sonoma Co area!

Sacramento market gardeners manage to have cilantro at our farmer's markets every single month of the year, Nancy. I think it is just a matter of lots and lots of succession planting and harvesting it while it is still young. FWIW I have some that is just right for picking in my Sacramento garden right now, and some more that was seeded about 10 days ago. I'm planning on seeding more this coming week.

(ironically, its my basil that is flowering, not my cilantro...)

So no, don't expect to plant cilantro now to make salsa with your tomatoes in August. It will go to seed and all you'll have left to harvest are coriander seeds. If you want to have cilantro all summer, I *think* the secret is a large packet of seeds that you plant, little by little (I haven't actually tested my theory for the whole summer or asked the Asian market gardners what their secret is. Maybe they also use shade cloth, but I don't think so.)

As to the original question, yes, morning sun is better than afternoon sun.

Well, Lunita, you are much more attentive to your garden/herbs than I! LOL
I've tried it in shade, sun, partial of both and only had success with the winter/early spring planting.
My new herb garden is mostly pots, so maybe I'll try a few in the pots. It can't hurt! Nancy

I just really love cilantro, and it's something I buy every week at the farmer's market. Since the farmers I buy it from are from my own county I figure there's gotta be a way I can grow it all year long too!

Well, might as well give it a shot! I will too. Maybe I'll try planting a few each weekend. Nancy

Thank you all for your help :)

Morning sun it is