Mining skill not working?

Herb gathering doesn't work for me unless I attack first. Weird? Yes. If I go up to a plant and hit the harvest button, 80% of the time, the animation will proceed to completion but nothing will happen at the end and I'll have to try again. If I Dragon Thrust 2 or 3 times, harvesting goes up to maybe 90% - 95% success rate. I don't know why this happens, I wish they would fix it.