Your own colorful world can be created with perennials in the garden. But which plants are perennials and which are not?
Everyone's dream is to create their own world with blooming landscapes. Most hobby gardeners have long since realized this dream. Dreamlike garden rooms have been created on so many plots of land.
There doesn't seem to be a lack of ideas, because hobby gardeners are often inspired by a visit to the perennial garden. It is the large assortment of perennials with its colorful variety of flowers and different location requirements that offers garden lovers a wide range of design options.
Already Hugo von Hoffmannthal, Austrian writer (1874 - 1929), recognized at the time:
"A garden can become a world of its own, no matter how big or small the garden is."
The botanist draws clear boundaries!
From the gardener's point of view, plants that grow more than two years old are called perennials. They are perennial, persistent and herbaceous. In contrast to shrubs, the parts of the plant that protrude from the ground do not become lignified. Once their seeds have matured, they die off at the end of the gardening year. However, their roots, tubers (rhizomes) and bulbs overwinter in the ground and form new plants the following spring.
Biennial plants are often counted among the perennials. However, they are not classified as perennials. The botanist draws clear boundaries between perennials and annual to biennial plants.
Characteristics and Lifespan of Plants
| Features | Perennial Plant(Perennial) | Biennial Plant | Annual Plant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root: | The roots, tubers or bulbs overwinter in the ground. After the parts of the plant protruding from the ground have died, buds form underground on the roots, tubers and bulbs. | Root stock dies off at the end of the second gardening year and rots in the soil | Rootstock dies at the end of the gardening year and rots in the soil |
| Flower: | Flowering perennials, flowering from the first year. Some summer perennials are cut back after the first flowering and form a second pile. | Blooms insecond year. Some varieties form a rebloom after the first bloom. The first flower should be cut back immediately after it has faded. | Flowers only in the year the plant is reared. |
| Propagation by: | Root runners, lowering, sprout expansion of tubers or bulb division,… | Seed embryo in the second year. The plant spreads itself. Their seeds germinate in the same gardening year and form hardy young plants. These flower and form seeds the following year. | Sowing Only the frost-resistant seeds will germinate next spring and form young plants. All other varieties must be sown again in spring. |
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Perennials that remain green over winter
An exception to the vegetation behavior of well-known perennials are many "evergreens". These include, for example, the sedum, which is best known in rock gardens or from wall planting. The low sedum belong to this, among others.
Badger, Andean upholstery, bow lily or tyme, for example, are “evergreens” in the rock garden.
Even in shady to semi-shady borders, evergreen perennials are indispensable. Periwinkles, palm lilies, bergenia and lavender are very popular. The leaves of this
Plants lose their color intensity in winter. Others, like the Bergenia, take on a light to intense red foliage color.
Perennial or not perennial, that is the question
Perennial, herbaceous and perennial are also the dahlia, the Indian cane and the gladiolus. They form tubers and store nutrients in them for the next garden year.
In our latitudes, like all other flowering perennials, they bloom from summer to autumn. However, these plants are nothardy. Their tubers are therefore brought indoors to overwinter. Although these ornamental plants meet the essential characteristics of a perennial perennial, they are not listed under perennials. They are common among perennial ornamental plants.