Perennials come back every year, growing from roots that survive through the winter. Annuals complete their life cycle in just one growing season before dying and come back the next year only if they drop seeds that germinate in the spring.

The short answer is that annuals don’t come back, but perennials do. 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 provide nearly instant gratification, maturing faster than perennials or biennials, and often bloom from planting time until frost, and in some cases beyond. If you want a lot of blooms, annuals are the answer. They put all of their energy into developing flowers.

Botanically speaking, annual plants complete their life cycle within one growing season (typically, from spring to fall): You place the seeds from last year’s flowers in the ground in spring. New annual plants sprout from the seeds.

Top 10 Long Blooming Perennials

• 1.) ‘Moonbeam’ Tickseed. (Coreopsis verticillata)
• 2.) Rozanne® Cranesbill. (Geranium)
• 3.) Russian Sage. (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
• 4.) ‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint. (Nepeta x faassenii)
• 5.) Coneflowers.
• 6.) ‘Goldsturm’ Black-Eyed Susan.
• 7.) ‘Autumn Joy’ Stonecrop.
• 8.) ‘Happy Returns’ Daylily.

21 Annual Flowers for Year-Round Color

• Petunia. One of the best annual flowers is the petunia.
• Calibrachoa. Calibrachoa looks like a miniature petunia.
• Sunflower.
• Stock.
• Sweet Alyssum.
• Begonia.
• Verbena.
• Rudbeckia or Black-Eyed Susan.

Here is a list of fall flowers that you can plant right now to keep your yard looking great.

• Asters. Asters produce pretty daisy-like flowers in a range of colors and, depending on the species, are frost tolerant.
• Cabbage and Kale.
• Calendula.
• Chrysanthemum.
• Cosmos.
• Daisies.
• Pansies.

Fall favorites for all-season flower gardens include:

• Asters.
• Ornamental grasses.
• Mums.
• Hardy begonias.
• Ornamental kale.
• Flowering cabbage.
• Pansy.
• Sedum.

Easy Annual Plants That Bloom All Summer Long

• Petunias. Supertunia ‘Mulberry Charm’, shown here, is a petunia hybrid.
• Impatiens Walleriana. Also known as busy Lizzie, this subshrubby perennial is usually grown as an annual.
• New Guinea Impatiens.
• Geraniums.
• Marigolds.
• Calibrachoas.
• Zinnias.
• Ageratum.