The 16 Best Perennials & Annuals for Your Garden
Walk into any garden store and you may notice something: Most plants are divided into two groups, annuals and perennials. So what's the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? And with so many different kinds of flowers, how on Earth do you pick any?
The main difference between the two groups are as follows: Perennials usually come back every spring or summer without having to be replanted. Annuals usually die once temperatures drop in the fall or winter. There are some exceptions -- an annual in a cooler region may be a perennial in a warmer region. Plants come with tags that tell you what to expect.
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Something else to keep in mind is that annuals work best in planters, flower boxes, and border flower beds. Perennials are for big spaces -- your larger flower beds. Because they come back every year, they'll usually keep getting larger and larger.
Here are a few of our favorites -- the easiest to care for -- from each.
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Annual: Pansy
The pansy comes in all combinations of purple, white, and sometimes yellow. They like to spend about half the day in shade and they'll do most of their blooming in the spring and the fall, so if they seem to slow down in the summer, don't worry. Pull off the dead blossoms regularly to keep them blooming.
Perennial: Bleeding Heart
If you have any shade at all, you have to plant bleeding hearts -- I mean, look at them! They only bloom in the spring, but the plants themselves are beautiful even without the blossoms. Technically, bleeding hearts are tubers, which are not strictly perennials. But they should come back year after year in most temperate regions.
Perennial: Hosta
Hostas produce large, sometimes variegated leaves and send up shoots of tiny white or purple flowers. They thrive in shade but bloom more if they get some sun, too. They will endure terrible winters and generally kick ass -- I have some that are at least 15 years old. They are also technically tubers.