• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • DIY Projects
    • Homemade Bath and Body
    • Sewing
    • Flower Crafts/Decor
    • Thrift Store/Vintage
  • Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Container Gardening
    • Houseplants
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Landscaping
    • DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • Room Makeovers
    • Spring Decor
    • Summer Decor
    • Fall Decor
    • Winter Decor
    • Home Decor Projects
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Dessert
    • Salad Recipes
    • Soups and Stews
    • Side Dish Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
Hearth and Vine
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Hearth and Vine
  • DIY Projects
    • ...Flower/Gardening Crafts
    • ... Bath and Body
    • ...Sewing/Fabric Crafts
    • ...Thrift Store/Upcycle
  • Gardening
    • ...Flower Gardens
    • ...Container Gardening
    • ...Indoor Gardening
    • ...DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • ...Home Decor Projects
    • ...Spring Decor
    • ...Summer Decor
    • ...Fall Decor
    • ...Winter Decor
    • ...Room Makeovers
  • Recipes
    • ...Appetizers and Snacks
    • ...Dinner Recipes
    • ...Side Dish Recipes
    • ...Salad Recipes
    • ...Dessert
    • ...Drinks
  • Holidays
    • ...Valentine's Day
    • ...Easter
    • ...Mother's Day
    • ...Halloween
    • ...Thanksgiving
    • ...Christmas
  • Subscribe
  • Instagram
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Flower Gardens

    Plant Life Cycles: Annuals vs Perennials and More

    April 12, 2016 by Patti Estep 2 Comments

    Understanding plant life cycles can help you understand what your buying at the nursery and more importantly whats is going on it your garden.

    Annuals, Perennials, Biennials, Tender Perennials collageAs a beginner gardener you may have wondered why some plants are labeled with the term "annual," or perennial. This term has to do with the how the plant grows. Plant life cycles lets you know how the long the flower will perform and last in the garden. Though annuals and perennials are probably the most commonly known, there are also plants known as biennials or tender perennials. It's always helpful to know what you're buying so that you will be able to easily achieve a successful beautiful garden.

    Plant Life Cycles 

    Annuals

    Annual Double Impatiens ~ Plant Life Cycles ~ gardenmatter.com
    Annual Coleus ~ Plant Life Cycles ~ gardenmatter.com
    Coleus
    Lobelia ~ Plant Life Cycles ~ gardenmatter.com
    Lobelia

    Just about everyone has grown an annual at one time or another. Annuals are the many nursery plants you see at big box stores and nurseries in the spring. The term annual simple means this plant can be grown from seed, and it will produce flowers and die back, all in one growing season.  Basically, these are the plants we need to plant every year. Great for container planting or edging the lawn and most flowering annuals will perform all season long. Some plants, like the coleus above, is really a perennial, but since it is native to Southeast Asia, it will not overwinter here, so I treat it like an annual.

    Newsletter Signup
    Join Our Newsletter List!

    Be the first to receive new posts and get access to our Subscribers Only Page.

    Perennials

    Perennials are plants that come back year after year. Plant them once and they should live for years, though some are more of a short-lived perennial. Often you will hear the term herbaceous perennial or woody perennial. This refers to the type of foliage the plant has. For example, a herbaceous perennial has soft foliage, which typically dies back to the ground at the end of the season, and emerges with new growth the following year. A woody perennial is more shrub-like, and though it may lose its  leaves, the branches remain, sending out new growth in the spring. Though some perennial have a long bloom time, many bloom for only part of the growing season.

    Biennials

    Biennial is a tricky concept. Typically a biennial is a plant that when grown from seed only produces foliage the first season. The second season it will flower and then go to seed and die. I have noticed this first hand with parsley. With other plants such as the ones I have shown above it's not so obvious. This is probably due to the fact that many of these plants will set seed and come back again and again.

    Tender Perennials

    Tender Perennial Scented Geranium ~ Plant Life Cycles ~ gardenmatter.com

    Tender perennials as the name suggests, are those plants too tender to make it through cold winters however, under warmer circumstances would come back year after year. Many bulbs such as dahlias are tender perennials and need to be dug up at the end of the season, and replanted in the spring. Scented geraniums with wonderful smelling leaves are native to Africa and need to be brought indoors over the winter. Some salvias such as the Black & Blue beauty shown above is also a perennial, but in my zone 6a garden, I treat it as an annual because the winter is too harsh.

    It's interesting that annuals are  a lot cheaper than perennials and usually come in smaller sizes. You can get more bang for your buck when you consider the years of growth a perennial will give you. Still, there is much to be said for the instant beauty of flowering annuals that bloom all season long I would not give up.

    As you plan your garden for this season, think about the different plant life cycles, and how they can help you achieve the look you want for your home now, and in the future.

    You May Also Like:

    Favorite Shade Loving Plants for the Front Porch

    Favorite Annual Flowers for Container Gardening

    10 Easy Summer Gardening Tips

     

    « Blue Cheese Marinated Flank Steak
    Easy Classic Tuna Egg Salad Recipe »

    About Patti Estep

    Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Karen

      April 12, 2016 at 6:45 am

      I didn't realize brown-eyed Susans were biennials. I admired a patch growing along the road last summer not far from where we lived. They sprang up each year and were just gorgeous. I gathered some seeds for my garden, but they didn't germinate, so I decided to just enjoy then as I passed by - they lasted all summer too.

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        April 12, 2016 at 7:39 am

        Hi Karen,
        That one is Rubeckia hirta 'Indian Summer.' There are lots of varieties of rudbeckia, some are more hardy perennials but the rudbeckia hirta are often considered annuals or biennials, especially in cold northern climates.
        Thanks for stopping by,
        Patti

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Follow Me

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Patti profile pic

    Hi! I'm Patti

    Join me to create lots of fun DIY projects including crafts, gardening, home decor and tasty recipes.

    more about me

    Popular Posts

    Blue jean crossover bag

    DIY Crossbody Bag from Jeans

    tabletop water gardens

    How to Make an Indoor Water Garden

    Echievera planter

    What to do With a Stretched Succulent

    Fabric bowl covers in 3 prints

    How to Make Fabric Bowl Covers

    Collage of flowers including russian sage, pink hydrangeas, coneflower and yarrow.

    10+ Long Blooming Plants

    Chicken black bean tortilla casserole

    Chicken Black Bean Casserole Recipe

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About
    Privacy Policy
    Disclosure Policy

    Sign Up Here!
    for our
    newsletter &
    special offers

    • Shop
    • Web Stories

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. i.e. as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Hearth and Vine