Annual & Perennial Flowers Provide Year Round Color

Annual flowers are those plants which completer their life cycle in one year. For our purposes in this website we will include in the annuals group all plants generally treated as annuals in our climate. Some such plants may be perennials in a milder climate and some are actually biennials, in that they begin their life cycle in one year and complete it in the next.

Annuals provide instant color to our landscapes. There is a wide range of annuals to choose from including both flowering plants and foliage color plants. Some annuals thrive in the cool season while others are warm season plants. To keep your landscape beds attractive year round may require at least 2 or 3 successive plantings of annual plants through the year.

Perennials flowers are plants that return year after year. In most cases they die back to near the ground line in winter and return in the spring. This separates them from woody ornamentals that last for years but retain their above ground structure throughout the year.

Perennials offer a good return on your money as they continue to bring beauty to the landscape for years to come. There is considerable variety to choose from when it comes to perennial color making it possible to have something of interest throughout the four seasons here in our climate.

Careful planning will insure that your landscape is beautiful in spring, summer, fall and even winter. Perennial plants have their seasons where they shine which are usually followed by a period of time when they are unattractive. Proper maintenance is important to prevent them from distracting from the beauty of your landscape during their "off seasons".