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Perennials Perform Longer Than Annuals

Kaffir lily is a reliable perennial.

Annuals live for only one year. Biennials live for only two. Technically, all other plants are perennials. Horticulturally, this classification is much more specific. Generally, It does not include vegetation that qualifies as something else. Also generally, plants that qualify as perennial are herbaceous rather than woody. Of course, this is not as simple as it seems.

Palm trees that develop substantial trunks, for example, classify as herbaceous trees. So do arboriform yuccas, such as Joshua tree. Palms and yuccas that do not develop trunks can classify merely as perennials though. Different species of one genus could therefore classify very differently. Tree ferns may also qualify as herbaceous trees as they mature.

Many palms and yuccas, as well as agaves, bamboos and banana trees, are perennials. They might not seem as if they should be, since they can grow so large. Spring bulbs are more recognizable as perennials likely because of their small size. Lavenders and some salvia develop more woody stems than banana trees. They are perennials nonetheless.

Perennials are generally self perpetuating. Lavenders and similarly twiggy sorts may not not seem like they are, but they can be. Their lower stems that sprawl over the surface of the soil can grow adventitious roots. These adventitiously rooted stems can grow as new plants to replace the old. Herbaceous perennials are more overt about self perpetuation.

Lily of the Nile, for example, constantly produces new rhizomes to replace the old. It can do so indefinitely. Some may have done so longer than the oldest bristlecone pines have been alive. They do not retain old growth as evidence of their age. This self perpetuation is an advantage in home gardens. It facilitates both sustainability as well as propagation.

Lily of the Nile, Daylily, Kaffir lily and African iris are very simple to propagate by division. Once separated, either after bloom or while dormant, their rhizomes grow as new plants. Many perennials actually perform better after occasional division. It alleviates congestion by providing more space to grow and bloom. Canna and ginger rhizomes grow very fast. Canna may benefit from annual division.

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Tabasco

Dahlia ‘Tabasco’

Annuals, as their designation implies, complete their respective life cycles within one year. Perennials, as their designation implies, can survive perennially, for more than one year. However, some bedding plants that are enjoyed as annuals actually have potential to be perennials. They are only as disposable as annuals because they are less appealing during dormancy or whatever season in which they do not perform so exemplarily. Most who enjoy gardening do not mind. Perennials that are designated as perennials but do not perform for more than a year are more disappointing. Of a few dahlias that the other horticulturist here purchased a few years ago, four were two pairs of bedding dahlias, which typically function as annuals, and one was a rather expensive perennial ‘Cafe au Lait’ dahlia. ‘Cafe au Lait’ rotted within its first season of minimal bloom. I was not at all keen on it anyway, and was even less keen on its lack of perennial performance. One pair of bedding dahlia, which I do not remember the name of, bloomed for two years, with bright yellow flowers against light green foliage. They would have bloomed again this year if I had stored them better and put them back into the landscape sooner. I forget about the stored dahlia tubers because we typically do not dig and store them here. The other pair of bedding dahlia was ‘Tabasco’. It originally bloomed with red flowers striped with orange, against dark green foliage. For the following year, it blooms with yellow flowers blotched with orange, against simpler green foliage. Now, for its third year, it blooms more like it appears in pictures, with simpler red flowers against bronzed foliage. I do not mind its variability, and actually find it to be interesting. I am more impressed by its perennial performance.

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Perennial Plants Perform For Years

Perennial pea is similar to sweet pea, but as the name implies, it is perennial.

‘Perennial’ is a simple adjective that describes something that last for more than a single year. Horticulturally, it is not this simple. After all, every plant that is not an ‘annual’, which completes its entire life cycle within only one year, is technically a ‘perennial’. Those that develop lignified (woody) parts instead conform to such categories as tree, shrub or vine.

Even these categories are not as simple as they seem to be. Palms are trees, but without woody stems. Technically, they are merely very large perennials. Some consider them to be ‘herbaceous trees’. Yucca trees conform to the same category; while terrestrial yuccas are usual perennials. Sweet peas are annual vines. Perennial peas are perennial vines.

Many annual bedding plants, such as begonia, chrysanthemum, primrose, cyclamen and even busy Lizzie, are technically perennial. They could survive for a few or several years if they get such a chance. All ferns, including tree ferns, are perennials. So are bamboos, ornamental grasses, and many succulents. ‘Biennials’ are perennials that live two years.

Many of the most popular perennial plants have an indefinite life span. It is impossible to know how long they can survive. They are constantly replacing themselves with new but genetically identical parts. For example, bearded iris migrate and propagate by rhizomes that could have been propagating for centuries. New plants are identical to their original.

However, many perennial plants with potential to propagate indefinitely might eventually get shabby. New Zealand flax, after many years, may slowly migrate outward from where it started growing, leaving a bald spot in the middle. Outer shoots relocate easily to patch such bald spots, or unite as a fresh clump. Crowded lily of the Nile benefit from thinning.

Bulbs and bulb like plants are generally perennial, even if unreliable as such in the mild local climate. (Many bulbs and bulb like plants prefer more chill through winter than they get here.) Most of these sorts of perennials are dormant for part of the year, so die back to the ground. Hostas are bare through winter. Florists’ cyclamen are bare through summer.

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Annual flowers For Cooler Weather

91016thumbAll that unpleasant annual business of removing warm season vegetable plants to relinquish space for cool season vegetables applies to annual bedding plants too. Those of us who do not grow vegetables were spared the agony of pulling up tomato plants that might have still been producing a few tomatoes, just to make room for broccoli. Now, it is time to replace petunias with pansies.

There is a reason why annuals get removed this time of year. It is the same reason why those that get planted now to replace them will be removed later. Annuals are annual. They are expected to perform for only part of one year. True annuals naturally complete their entire life cycles in about a year. Those that have potential to be perennial are too unappealing to salvage through dormancy.

Removal of aging warm season annual bedding plants should be less distressing if they are already deteriorating. By now, most of them are. They tend to wear out faster than some of the warm season vegetable plants. Impatiens can be potted for next year, or, for mixed beds, cut down and overplanted. Most cool season annual bedding plants are already blooming when newly planted.

Because the weather gradually gets cooler through autumn, cool season annual bedding plants appreciate an early start. It is easier to disperse roots before the soil gets cool. Only those that are sensitive to warmth, such as cyclamen, get planted later. Ornamental cabbage and kale might bolt and bloom early at the end of their season if they get too warm at the beginning of their season.

Marigold and chrysanthemum are short term autumn annuals that work very nicely until it is time to plant cyclamen or ornamental cabbage and kale.

Pansy, viola (including Johnny-jump-up), stock, sweet William, Iceland poppy and various primroses are now in season. Some could have been started from seed earlier. Otherwise, it is most practical to plant these cool season annual bedding plants from cell packs. Cyclamen and ornamental cabbage and kale that get planted later are best as more expensive four inch potted plants.