The word annual is applied to a plant that lives for only one growing season. Annuals typically flower and bloom in the spring and then wither and die around autumn. Unlike perennials, annuals do not regrow the next season—at least not from the same root.
The short answer is that annuals don't come back. Plants that flower and die in one season are annuals—although many will drop seeds that you can collect (or leave) to grow new plants in the spring. Annuals will also typically bloom all season until frost, so you get consistent color and showy blooms.
The fact that some annuals grow back next season is a real bonus. They do this by cleverly reseeding themselves around your garden if you don't deadhead them and instead let them go to seed at the end of their flowering season.
Self-sowing annuals are plants that will drop seed in your garden before they die and will germinate on their own the following year. So they return year after year like perennials, but from seeds, not from their roots.
Simply put, annual plants die in the winter season so you must replant them every year, while perennials come back every year so you only plant them once.
You can put them in a garage or shed that gets cold but doesn't freeze, ever. They will over-winter as live but semi-dormant plants. Keep the soil just moist, not letting the potting medium shrink and pull away from the pot edges.
Answer and Explanation: Annual plants grow from seeds. Their life cycle is limited to one year, and they can only reproduce through viable seeds. Seeds are produced though flowers and must be pollinated.
Annual cleanup
Remove all of your summer annual flowers, including their seed heads, from your flower beds. (Throw these in your compost bin.) This does more than save you time next spring. Leaving annuals in your beds over the winter will invite pests and disease as the plants decompose.
"true" annuals that die at the end of year one after producing new seed. Species such as begonias, coleus, fuchsia, Persian shield and most houseplants will overwinter if you keep them above freezing. A few start to suffer when temperatures drop below 40. So get them inside in the next couple of weeks.
Remove Most Annuals
If the spent foliage and blossoms on these plants are free of mold and disease, we put them in the compost pile. If we see traces of powdery mildew (zinnias are often afflicted), downy mildew or other diseases, the plants are put into trash that's hauled off the property.
Perennial plants regrow every spring, while annual plants live for only one growing season, then die off.
Unlike perennials, annuals do not come back from season to season so there is no reason to leave these in the ground. Pull them up, roots and all, and add them to your compost pile. Remove weeds and leaf debris. These are common places for diseases and pests over winter.
Annuals live to flower quickly, produce seed and die. So long as you keep deadheading blossoms, the plants will continue to produce flowers; once you stop, the plants will reduce or stop flowering, and put their energy into maturing seeds. Pinching off spent blooms is quick and easy, and it ensures season-long bloom.
Since annuals only have one season to create seeds for the “next generation”, they tend to have a long bloom period. They seek as many opportunities to create seeds. And you can make the most of it by removing the flowers as they fade. This will encourage them to bloom again so they can make more seeds.
Annuals provide gardens with all-season color, but they have to be replanted every year, so they often get the cold shoulder. Perennials are the garden divas; they give one outstanding performance a year and retire to the background to bloom against some time next year.
Light freeze - 29° to 32° Fahrenheit will kill tender plants. Moderate freeze - 25° to 28° Fahrenheit is widely destructive to most vegetation.
Temperatures below 32 degrees can freeze the leaf tissue of cold-wimpy plants and turn them to mush after just a few hours. Some of the most tender annuals and veggies might not die but suffer cold-induced setbacks even when overnight lows dip below 40.
Generally speaking, the annual plants you want to protect or propagate should be brought indoors as the growing season begins to wane and before cold weather threatens to kill them.
Annuals, with their shallow roots, will typically need water every single day. Especially if they're in the hot sun. On those hot sunny days water your annuals twice a day. Don't let your annuals dry out, especially if they're in a container.
Promote colorful, abundant flowers in your annuals and perennials by feeding them Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Bloom Booster® Flower Food every 7 to 14 days, or Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Rose & Bloom Plant Food every 3 months during the growing season.
Encourage new blooms by deadheading, which is pinching, snapping or cutting off dead blooms. Petunias, geraniums, salvia and marigolds need to be pinched back on the stem to the base to prevent the plant from going to seed and to encourage continuous blooms.
While some plants can survive light frosts, others will die as soon as their cells freeze. Depending on their hardiness, some potted plants will respond to the first frost by going dormant just like garden plants do. However, as the temperature continues to drop, their roots might die unless they are protected.
Planters made from modern substances, like fibreglass, fiberstone, and non-porous plastic composites can safely remain outside over winter. Fiberstone planters are made from a mix of limestone and fibreglass, which forms a material that looks like stone but weighs a fraction of the natural material.
You may be overwatering. Make sure your container has adequate drainage and then cut back on watering. Use pruning snips to trim away dying foliage. Yellow leaves can also mean the plant is rootbound and needs to be moved to a bigger pot with drainage holes.