WHAT ARE ANNUALS<br > AND PERENNIALS?<br >"Anmtal，" perennial，" and "biennial" all bare fair{y ，qratgh.~oru ard<br >botanical cl~n#ions. In garden#Tg usage， /hough， the ca/egoJ3 lines can<br >become someu，hat blun ed For evample， some plants a bomnis! wouM caA<br >egorize as pemmials can be grou，n most successfully as annuals.<br >AN N UALS<br >Bocanically， an annual is a plant that completes its life cycle in a year or less. In the<br >course of a single growing season， the seed germinates and the plant grows， blooms，<br >goes to seed， and dies. Because the)， must complete their life cycle in such a short time，<br >annuals grow and bh)om qtdckly in their rush to set seed， bringing their joyous color to<br >the garden in only a few months from sowing. They are reliable bloomers: if spent blos-<br >soms are removed， most kinds flower for a long period， persisting in their quest to pro-<br >duce seed.<br > Depending on the varieties you choose， annuals can decorate your garden for<br >much of the yea1: Cool-season types (calendula and viola， for example) prosper in cool<br >soils mid mild temperatures--from fall through spring in mild-winter climates， from<br >early to late spring elsewhere. Following the cool-season show are waxm-season an-<br >nuals such as cosmos and zinnia， which are typically planted ，after the year s last frost<br >mid， in most climates， bloom generously throughout summer and fall.<br >PERENNIALS<br >hi botanical terms， perennials are nonwoody plants that~ ~ i<br >live for more than 2 years. Unlike annuals， they return<br >replanth~g--though many grow at a somewhat P .~" -"<br >rekc<ed pace and may require a season or two to ~: ~7 ~" :<br >settle in and reach their full potential.<br > Among perennials， you ll find plant，; with vari-<br >oils growth habits. Some， such as hosta and peon}，<br >(l aeonia)， die down to the grotmd at the end of<br >each growing season， then reappear at the start of die<br >next; these are ()hen referred to as "herbaceous"<br >plants. Others， including Shasta daisy (Cbo，santhenutm l ，.~evnia<br >ntaxinlttm) mid cored bells (lteltcbera)， go tlirougb win- Festi~a~.la_xima <br >ter as low tufts of leaves， ready to grow when spring arrives. A<br >third i)1~e of perennial is truly evergreen， with h}llage that pm~.ists ~dmost unchanged<br >througllotu the winter months. New Zealand flax (Pho*wthlm)， some daylilies (ltenw-<br >rocallis)， and perennial pinks (Diantbus) are fanliliar exanlples.<br > A few plants， though technically perennials， Iuay be growu as anntr， ds. Example5<br >include certain tender pkmts (those tliat cannot SUlM ，e freezing temperatures) such as<br >common gerauium (l e&tL， onium)， fibrous begopda， marguerite (Cbo，santbemnm<br >