DIFFERENCES
When buying and planting different flowers, bushes and vegetation it is important to know the difference between perennials and annuals to ensure that you understand the life cycle of your planting. A perennial plant is one that will rejuvenated growth yearly, and a annual is one that will only survive one life cycle, or one year. The reasons that these plants live such different lifestyles is because of their genetic make ups.
PERENNIALS
So what exactly are perennials? Perennial plants have roots that in the off season will go into a stage of dormancy in order to preserve the life of a plant. Perennial plants traditionally have a season of blooming, because they focus a lot of their energy into strengthening and growing their root systems so that they can survive the off season period when they enter the stage of dormancy. Planting perennial plants are much less maintenance once they are planted it is only required that you keep up with the annual maintenance such as watering, weeding, and trimmings. When purchasing perennials be cautious of your zone (refer to previous ARE YOU IN THE ZONE? blog post for more information about your zone). If you accidentally or unknowingly plant a perennial that cannot handle to climate of your zone, the plant is destined to be scrawny and possibly wither away. If you are located in Morris county, here is are some perennials that thrive in your area, Bee balm, Coneflower, Salvia, Daisy, Daylily, Coral bells, Hosta, Hellebore.
ANNUALS
And annuals are.. Annuals are plants that only last one season. In a general sense annuals germinate from seeds. There are different types of annuals, mainly summer and winter annuals. Summer annuals begin their process of germination roughly around the month of April - June and are full matured by the months of September to October. Winter annuals start their germination process during the fall season and they will become full matured between the months of March to august of the following season. If you are a homeowner and you are beginning to seed nasty crabgrass developing on your property there is good news for you, crabgrass in a summer annual so it will not regenerate on its own next season, but it is recommended to take proper precaution in the spring to prevent this growth. Unlike perennials, annuals are less sensitive to the zone that they are being planted in due to the short life span that they have but it is always important to consult your zone if you want to have the healthiest growth in your plantings. If you are located in the Morris county are here are some annuals that thrive in growth in your area Angelonia, Bacopa, Begonia, Calibrachoa, Cleome, Cockscomb, Cosmos, Four O'Clocks, Pansies, and Sunflowers.
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