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I’ll bet there are times especially when you read the tags attached to those pretty little plants at the garden center when you’re scratching your feeble head and thinking “Why do they have to make everything sound like Greek?” Actually it’s Latin but that’s neither here nor there. It’s those confusing garden terms which are giving you trouble. I can clear it up for you if you’re willing to listen.
Some of you perhaps do not know the difference between a perennial and a biennial, between a semi-hardy annual and a tender perennial nor the difference between a tuber, corm, rhizome and a bulb. While it’s not essential to know these definitions in order to have a stunningly beautiful garden it might provide you with some answers like why that Foxglove didn’t come back when it looked so pretty last year.
Let’s start with the term perennial. When a plant is called a perennial it simply means it will live through the winter. They will go dormant but reemerge in spring. That technically would make your Japanese Red Maple just as much a perennial as your Rhododendron and your Peony. Each one of these gets its own category with its own definition.
Trees in general are deciduous perennials. These drop their leaves in autumn, sleep through the winter and grow them back in the spring. In a separate sub-category there is the evergreen which retains its leaves, or more likely needles in the case of pines and spruces. Rhododendrons and some azaleas are evergreen shrubs because they keep their leaves through the winter.
Now we come to the herbaceous perennial. The Peony, being it dies down to the ground every winter and comes up afresh in spring, is an example of the herbaceous perennial. In the case of the peony it is a long-lived perennial because it will live for several decades if provided with some essentials, water, nutrients and sun. The roots remain alive and well even through bitter cold winters and reawaken in the spring. Some others included in this category are Shasta Daisy, Daylily, Iris, Hosta and Coreopsis.
But not all perennials always make it through the winter unscathed. That’s when we get into the tender perennials. These are plants that come back year after year but only up to a certain point can they tolerate the cold rather a bit like me. I am Carribean born and would wilt quicker than a Poppy in water if I was sent to Alaska.. That is where understanding the plant label will help you make the right choices. You must first know in what zone you are planting. This will help you pick plants which will survive your temperature extremes.
For example, if a plant is said to be a perennial up to zone 7 then I, who lives in zone 5 where it gets much colder, can expect this plant to die over the winter if left outside. I could bring it inside to winter-over but that’s a tale for another time. The Mandevilla is such a plant. My uncle out on Long Island (zone 7) can grow this beautiful plant outside but I must treat it like a houseplant.
So, now we come to the biennial. These cause undue confusion. This plant category includes some Foxglove, Hollyhock and Queen Anne’s Lace. The biennial completes it’s life cycle in two seasons. The seed will grow the first year but is not likely to flower until the second year. This means it will live through one winter and reemerge in spring to bloom and hopefully go to seed to perpetuate the species. If seeds are planted two years in a row and allowed to self-sow they act like a perennial and that is where the confusion may come in. To add to the confusion the biennial can be easily tricked into blooming in less time simply by planting them later in the season, allowing them to winter over and then, come spring, they are ready to bloom in less than the usual 12 month’s time. Also planting them extra early indoors during the winter months may allow them enough time to mature and bloom by summertime.
Annuals come next. This includes Marigolds, Zinnia, Cosmos, Petunia and Impatiens. These generally grow and go to seed within a season. They will die after the frost zaps them. Many of these throw their seeds around and come back in the spring without any trouble from you which at times makes people think they are perennial. But these are new plants coming. The old ones died with the cold but not before sowing seeds for the next generation. Isn’t that nice of them?
The semi-hardy annual refers to those annuals which can sustain cooler temperatures and if planted in a temperate region may be able to be wintered over sometimes with a just a bit of extra protection like a thick covering of dried autumn leaves or evergreen branches. Snapdragons and at times Four o’clocks have been known to make it through some winters when covered well. It’s hit and miss with this bunch. Experimenting is the only way to know for certain.
I hope this has eliminated some confusion. I know you won’t want to do any gardening if all that Greek makes your head hurt. Oh, yeah, I forgot. It’s Latin. Whatever, just go out there and plant something regardless what it may be called. It’ll do you some good I just know it.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
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http://www.helium.com/user/show/32782
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