Bloom in the Big Apple: NYC Gardener Test 2026 – Cultivate Your Success!

Annuals are flowering plants that complete a life cycle within one year. This means they germinate, grow, bloom, produce seeds, and die all in a single growing season. That timing is what the term “annual” captures most clearly. Perennials live for several years and can flower multiple seasons. Biennials take two years to finish their life cycle—vegetative growth in the first year and flowering in the second year, then they die. Meristems are regions of active cell growth in plants, not a description of how long a plant lives.