Avatar for possum542005
Jan 3, 2025 5:56 PM CST
Thread OP
Victoria Australia
What does it mean when they say it is a Perinial plant
Thumb of 2025-01-03/possum542005/0275e9
Image
Jan 3, 2025 6:19 PM CST
Name: Nick
Detroit Michigan (Zone 6a)
My kids are my life
Bee Lover Birds Butterflies Cat Lover Echinacea Growing under artificial light
Region: Michigan Orchids Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
That means they come up year after year.
A good many perennials spread over time.
Annuals grow and bloom for a 6 month period of time. They die back here in the Detroit area due to winter. Some annuals set seed and they sprout and produce more plants every year. The original plant dies off.
There is no better thrill then catching fish using flies that you tied!
Image
Jan 3, 2025 8:04 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
Here is more than you ever wanted to know:

Annuals manage to live their entire lives in just a year or less, thus the name annual (or annus in Latin) - 1 year. Perennials take their time, sometimes not even blooming for the first year or so. Perennial is taken from 2 Latin words:per (through) and ennial (annus or annual) and translates to 'through the year' so through this year and onward. Your wax begonias are perennial. Some perennials can't survive the winter in some areas but that doesn't mean they're annuals, just perennials trying to live in the wrong place.
Image
Jan 7, 2025 5:20 PM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
The good news about perennials taken to where they can't survive outside perennially is that they can often survive by being brought inside for winter. Then you can start next season with a much bigger plant if the idea appeals.

Perennials do not necessarily disappear over winter. Trees are perennials.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
👀😁😂 - SMILE! -☺😎☻☮👌✌∞☯
The only way to succeed is to try!
🐣🐦🐔🍯🐾🌺🌻🌸🌼🌹
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
👒🎄👣🏡🍃🍂🌾🌿🍁❦❧🍁🍂🌽❀☀ ☕👓🐝
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
Avatar for Toedtoes
Jan 7, 2025 6:31 PM CST
Sacramento, Ca
And some perennials are evergreen - they have foliage year round - while others are deciduous and drop their leaves in winter. Some go dormant in winter and some don't. Perennials can bloom in various seasons, or even year round, depending on the plant and climate.

It looks like Victoria is zone 9b, so you won't have as many perennials that go dormant in winter. Also, some plants that are considered annuals in colder climates will be perennial in your climate because your winter temps aren't cold enough to kill them off. And you may see them blooming during a mild winter. I have several plants that are blooming right now as our winter has been mild.
Avatar for CalPolygardener
Jan 7, 2025 10:27 PM CST
California (Zone 9b)
Welcome! to the forum!
For you, the Begonias will be perennials.
It's nice to have another Aussie here. I'm not one, but still.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 8:21 AM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
When perennials are sold where it is known that they can't survive perennially, they may be labeled as annuals to avoid unrealistic expectations.

Begonias are perennials in any location. They just can't survive the cold in some locations, or hot drought in others. Being designated as a perennial or annual is not related to location. These are inherent characteristics of a plant that do not change by moving them around. It is the performance that can vary, but not the innate nature of the plant.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
👀😁😂 - SMILE! -☺😎☻☮👌✌∞☯
The only way to succeed is to try!
🐣🐦🐔🍯🐾🌺🌻🌸🌼🌹
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
👒🎄👣🏡🍃🍂🌾🌿🍁❦❧🍁🍂🌽❀☀ ☕👓🐝
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 10:03 AM CST
Name: Sally
central Maryland (Zone 7b)
See you in the funny papers!
Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Procrastinator Charter ATP Member Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Houseplants
Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Region: Maryland Composter Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener
can it also be said ( as a generality) that annuals are self limiting because once they've set a certain amount of seed, they decide they are done, and die?
And that perennials don't "think" that way?
Plant it and they will come.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 12:12 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
The whole purpose of plants (at least to plants) is reproduction. And it always comes back to environment. Most annuals evolved from perennials but environment has favored the plants that could reproduce in 1 season over plants that had to mature over several years. Usually, annuals originated in places where there was a high rate of short term survivability but not long term because of an unfavorable or unpredictable environment. Producing lots of seed to carry on in the next season when conditions were good again was an advantage.

Perennials have lower reproduction rates but survive multiple years - in some cases, thousands. Perennials have also found other ways to reproduce vegetatively: rhizomes, stolens, bulbs, stems or leaves touching the ground. Prickly pear plants still bloom but because they have become so successful at lying down and growing away, a lot no longer set seed. Why waste all that energy on seed production when you can just fall over?
Avatar for CalPolygardener
Jan 8, 2025 12:55 PM CST
California (Zone 9b)
Well there's that. Rolling on the floor laughing
Avatar for Toedtoes
Jan 8, 2025 1:39 PM CST
Sacramento, Ca
CalPolygardener said: Well there's that. Rolling on the floor laughing


Zq buy

Sorry Tornado-dog felt the need to respond to your post (honestly, he hit the tablet to quote your post, typed his comment and hit post before I realized he had done it).

I think I like that prickly pear attitude!
Last edited by Toedtoes Jan 8, 2025 1:42 PM Icon for preview
Avatar for Toedtoes
Jan 8, 2025 1:56 PM CST
Sacramento, Ca
purpleinopp said: Being designated as a perennial or annual is not related to location.


I think a distinction must be made between "scientifically designated" and "commonly identified". While scientifically a perennial is always a perennial and an annual is always an annual, commonly plants are labelled differently dependent upon location.

I find a lot of plants sold in my zone are identified as "will be an annual in colder climes" or "will be perennial in warmer zones".

Which leads to a question. If annuals are always annuals scientifically, how can one be labelled as "will be perennial in warmer zones"?

I get that a perennial may not be able to handle a cold winter and die off each year - thereby "making" it an annual for that zone. But if the scientific designation has no bearing on location, then how can an annual become a perennial in any climate? If it CAN last longer than one year under any circumstances, then by definition it wouldn't be an annual.

Or are nurseries using the term "perennial" in such situations to mean that the plant will self-seed in the same spot and sprout a new plant right where the old plant was located but the original plant will die out within that first year?

I suspect the OP is gone, but I'm finding this discussion to be enlightening.

P.S. and then there is the "short lived perennial". How long will they normally live? I've assumed 2-4 years, but have never seen any actual time frame listed.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 2:15 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
Never take anything the nursery tells you as gospel. They make stuff up to sell plants. Smiling

Actually though, I think it was a misguided attempt to make everything easier for us: if it dies at the end of summer, it's an annual. If it survives the winter, its a perennial. Changing location (moving plants out of their hardiness zone) complicates that simple explanation because tropical perennials will die in zone 8, obviously making them annuals, right? Rolling on the floor laughing
Image
Jan 8, 2025 2:21 PM CST
Name: Zoë
Albuquerque NM, Elev 5310 ft (Zone 7b)
Bee Lover Salvias Region: New Mexico Herbs Container Gardener Composter
Cat Lover Butterflies Bookworm Birds Enjoys or suffers hot summers
"will be perennial in warmer zones" simply means it's a perennial in its native warm climate and is being sold "as an annual" in a colder climate for the warm season, but it's still genetically a perennial. Tomatoes are perennials in their native tropical range but we in cooler areas grow then as annuals.

I don't believe any nursery refers to plant that only reseeds as perennial.

A short-lived perennial is sort of between a biennial and perennial, and in my experience their lifespans are dependant on cultural conditions. Maybe three years, maybe five, maybe even more or less, but usually with dwindling vigor as they age.
Avatar for Toedtoes
Jan 8, 2025 2:48 PM CST
Sacramento, Ca
I have learned that one after the passifloras labelled as growing 2-3ft per the sellers but after questioning them, they admit they are identifying them as that small size because you can wrap the 20-40ft vines around themselves to fit into a 2-3ft space. Sighing!

I noticed when I started researching plants being sold by the local university that many descriptions change based on location. I always check to see where the online nursery is located before I consider their descriptions.

One descriptor that threw me off for a while wasthe blooming season. Many plants that do well here are Australian natives. If I look them up I often find only Australian websites. And they will indicate the plant blooms in winter. I've had to work that in my head, because my first thought was "oh, so that'd be summer here". Uh no. It blooms in the cold/wet season. D'Oh!
Avatar for Toedtoes
Jan 8, 2025 3:03 PM CST
Sacramento, Ca
NMoasis said: "will be perennial in warmer zones" simply means it's a perennial in its native warm climate and is being sold "as an annual" in a colder climate for the warm season, but it's still genetically a perennial. Tomatoes are perennials in their native tropical range but we in cooler areas grow then as annuals.

I don't believe any nursery refers to plant that only reseeds as perennial.

A short-lived perennial is sort of between a biennial and perennial, and in my experience their lifespans are dependant on cultural conditions. Maybe three years, maybe five, maybe even more or less, but usually with dwindling vigor as they age.


Which basically means that there is no overall consensus on what is identified as a perennial and what is identified as an annual - it's all based on location despite the scientific description. If I visit a Maine nursery, I'll see a lot of annuals. But if I find those same plants in San Diego, they will be perennials. And a British website will refer to a plant as "a great annual for summer color" while an Australian website will refer to it as "a great year round blooming perennial". The scientific descriptor is moot in the real world application.

I've skipped over short lived perennials thinking I didn't want to spend the money on something that would only live 2 years. But maybe I'll try a couple and see how long they last here in my yard. Maybe they'll last long enough to be worth it.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 3:11 PM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
A seller trying to make sure customers don't have unrealistic expectations is not an accurate measure of whether a plant is a perennial or an annual. They are not malleable concepts. Perennials have hardiness zones. Annuals do not.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
👀😁😂 - SMILE! -☺😎☻☮👌✌∞☯
The only way to succeed is to try!
🐣🐦🐔🍯🐾🌺🌻🌸🌼🌹
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
👒🎄👣🏡🍃🍂🌾🌿🍁❦❧🍁🍂🌽❀☀ ☕👓🐝
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 3:19 PM CST
Name: Sally
central Maryland (Zone 7b)
See you in the funny papers!
Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Procrastinator Charter ATP Member Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Houseplants
Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Region: Maryland Composter Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener
Are any plants truly " scientifically designated" as perennial or annual?
Or is it more a cultural thing. Such as " is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?"
Plant it and they will come.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 3:20 PM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
An annual can't survive perennially in any location.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
👀😁😂 - SMILE! -☺😎☻☮👌✌∞☯
The only way to succeed is to try!
🐣🐦🐔🍯🐾🌺🌻🌸🌼🌹
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
👒🎄👣🏡🍃🍂🌾🌿🍁❦❧🍁🍂🌽❀☀ ☕👓🐝
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
Image
Jan 8, 2025 3:31 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
Annuals were designed by nature to be once and done.

Only the members of the Members group may reply to this thread.
Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Paul2032 and is called "Echinacea and Rudbeckia"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.