Annuals & Perennial Tips from Schmeg.com

  

When most people think of flower gardens, they are thinking of annual and perennial plants. These two vast groups provide colorful flowers and handsome foliage in almost unlimited variety. Whether your gardening aspirations are as modest as a kitchen window box or expand across a backyard acreage, a basic understanding of annuals and perennials will be very helpful. In this How-To Guide, we'll introduce each group of plants, suggest qualities to look for when choosing them, and outline how to get started growing them.

WHAT ARE ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS?
Technically speaking, an annual is a plant that lives only a single growing season, during which it flowers, sets seed, and dies. Marigolds, zinnias, and calendulas are common examples. Perennials are plants that don't die after setting seed; they keep growing year after year unless killed by frost, drought, or other adversity. Some perennials stay green all year, especially where winters are mild. Others go dormant- their tops turn brown or die down to the ground, but the roots stay alive and send up new shoots the next year. Lilies, daylilies, peonies, hostas, astilbes, and ferns are common perennials.

The distinction between annuals and perennials isn't clear-cut, since many plants that are used like annuals-to provide color for one season in the garden-would actually be perennial if protected from frost. Coleus, impatiens, begonias, and geraniums make wonderful garden "annuals," but you can keep them from year to year by bringing them indoors for the winter.

Annuals put all their energy into creating seeds to perpetuate the species. This effort produces an abundance of flowers, typically for long periods during the growing season. Perennials also produce beautiful flowers, but often for shorter duration, providing time to store energy in roots and other plant parts to fuel the yearly rejuvenation. Annuals give quick results in the garden, allowing you to make a satisfying display in a few months. But you have to start from scratch again the next year.

Although a number of perennials flower in their first growing season, many take three years to reach robust maturity. Once established, they commonly live for years, so you can build on your previous efforts. A good way to start a garden is by growing annuals interspersed with a few perennials, adding more perennials as your garden and gardening interests grow.

CHOOSING PLANTS-
Annuals and perennials are most often prized for their flowers. These range from the tiny blooms of baby's-breath, floating like clouds over fine foliage, to the giant blossoms of hibiscus, which may attain the size of dinner plates. Cheerful daisies, elegant irises, fragrant pinks, playful snapdragons-the pleasures of annual and perennial flowers are many, and reason enough to grow these plants.

There are, however, other qualities you should consider when selecting annuals and perennials. Despite the prominence of flowers, the dominant colors in the garden are the greens of the foliage. Many annuals and perennials offer handsome foliage-the delicate tracery of ferns, the graceful arching ribbons of daylilies, the broad leaves of hostas, the plump succulent leaves of sedums, the colorful leaves of coleus.

For those perennials that flower only a short time, foliage is a crucial consideration. Select foliage as a backdrop for flowers or as a focal point on its own; foliage plantings of complementary or contrasting colors, textures, and forms can be very effective.

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