Ever wondered why your plants flowered so beautifully for some time and now all you have left are leaves? The reason is simple. There are some plants that are seasonal and there are others that are not. Plants which are long lasting are called perennials. In this case it refers to plants that live for two years or more. Typically, perennial plants will flower once or more than once in a growing year but it depends on the variety that has been planted. The blooming period can be as short as week or as long as a month. This can be stretched if the wilted flowers are pruned regularly.



June is considered a good month for planting your perennials. Ensure that you are not going to transplant these for some years. Mulching is very necessary after planting as it helps promote growth, keep the moisture in, and prevents the fast growth of weeds. If your perennials have grown over the year then June is the right month to trim the height to promote growth and flowering. These plants have some specific characteristics that classify them as perennial. There are herbaceous perennial plants that have no woody tissue and then there are those that have a wood base from which the flowers and leaves sprout.

Among perennials we have the monocarpic perennial that blooms once and dies. Then there is the polycarpic variety which flowers many times in its life span. The climate influences the growth of such plants. If you are in a place where the climate is generally warm, your plants will grow and flower almost continuously. If you stay in a place where the seasons are clearly demarcated by change in temperature then even your plants will behave the same way. Deciduous perennials are those whose leaves die back in the winter months and they flower in the warmer times of the year. These are found in temperate regions and some of the commonly known plants are mint and goldenrod. In places where the seasons are categorized as rainy and dry, these plants retain their foliage for the entire period and are classified as evergreens. Begonia and banana are two popular examples of this variety.

There are a lot of plants that people grow because they last well and look good for a large part of the year. Annual plants are technically plants which are grown outdoors, germinate, bloom and die once a year. Some of these are the wax begonia, the snapdragons, petunias, pelargonium, impatiens, coleus, tomato, bell peppers and sweet potatoes. People grow perennials as annuals more for convenience.

The Nepata or Walkers Low are gorgeous blue violet flowers with beautiful grey green foliage and this variety has been given the Perennial Plant of the Year 2007 award by the Perennial Plant Association. One of the most attractive features of this plant is that it is low maintenance, simple to grow and fairly immune to plant health problems.