When you first start playing around in the garden, a large number of landscaping-oriented terms are going to come up, many of which will be new to you, several of which you’ll want to make sure you understand. Terms like annual and perennial, distinctions or classifications of plants and how they grow season to season, can be vital when you are planning your garden and trying to maximize both plant growth in general (flowers) and your garden’s efficiency (how often you have to plant areas and what you can expect to get out of your work).

As the term might sound, “annual” plants and the use of the adjective “annual” refer specifically to plants that bloom just once a year, in an annual cycle of growth and eventual death. If you have seasonal annuals, this will tell you exactly when to expect the blooms on the plants — a “summer annual” for example will bloom during typical summer months. Because they are on a once a year cycle, you’ll have to replant them each year if you desire the same blooms in your garden.

So by default, perennials will continue to come up in your garden, season after season, all on their own — you won’t have to plant them each year to continue perpetuating your garden blooms. The default definition for perennial is that it is a plant that will last for more than two years. Although this might sound like you ought to just plant perennials to avoid any hard work, the benefit of annuals is often their beauty, and the vivid colors they will bring to your yard.

Annuals can be found more readily in nurseries each season, and you will find a wide variety of these blooms just about anywhere. The variety includes size of plant as well as type and color of bloom, all of which can help you to plan beautiful and unique looking seasonal gardens, year after year. Additionally, if you plan on growing some kinds of herbs and vegetables for sure, then you’re going to be planting annuals. Tomatoes and peppers are generally the few exceptions to food annuals, though they are often grown as annuals rather than perennials.

(Image Via: Gregorthecat)