What determines if a plant is called a perennial or an annual? A plant that is sold as an annual is one that completes its life cycle in one season. Think of a garden impatien, marigold, or even a tomato plant. We plant them after all chances of frost have passed, then they grow during the warm months and die with a killing frost. These would be called warm season annuals—growing from start to finish basically from frost to frost, during the warmer months of the year. Pansies and violas, lettuce and radishes, would be considered cool season annuals, with planting dates either in the fall or late winter. They would die with the onset of hot weather.

A perennial is a plant that lives for more than one year. Some perennials like daylilies, asparagus and hostas die back completely to the ground after a killing frost in the fall, and begin new growth in the spring. Other perennials like hellebores (Lenten rose), rosemary and lambs ear are evergreen, but live from year to year. Some perennials are very long lived like peonies and ferns, while others are relatively short lived like dianthus and foxglove.

Depending on where you live and the average low winter temperature, or high summer temperature will determine whether the plant is an annual, perennial or evergreen. Annuals are often used to give you instant color with bedding plants, or as seasonal vegetables, while perennials may bloom a shorter period of time, but don’t have to be replanted every season.

Tips to do the end of summer:

• Start planting ornamental and edible kale and cabbage.
• Start raking leaves as they fall.
• Start a compost pile from plant remains.
• Dig and divide any spring or summer blooming perennials as they go dormant.
• Fertilize lawns one last time by the first week or so of September if you did not fertilize well this summer.
• Continue to water.
• Plant lettuce and radishes, greens and spinach.