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Plants, Vegetables and Herbs
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Many people enjoy gardening as a pass time. Those who have a house with a yard, and even those who live in condominiums or apartments, can grow plants and vegetables in beds or pots. There are many benefits of having a garden, and especially of growing perennial plants. There are several categories of plants, defined by their lifespan. Perennials are those that grow for more than two seasons. This is a very wide category, which technically includes plants like trees and shrubs. It also includes herbs (which can be grown for use in home cooking), cactus, and succulent plants. Generally though, when gardeners and florists talk about perennial plants, they are referring to any number of small, flowering plants which come back each year.
Other types of plants, annuals and bi-annuals, die after one or two years, respectively. These plants produce seeds at the end of their growing season, which then spread naturally or are planted to produce new plants. In contrast, perennials grow roots that continue to live even through the winter. The main part of the plant, the stalks, leaves, and flowers that can be seen above ground, die each year and separate. During the winter, the roots survive underground, and in the spring grow new stalks. And in warmer climates, they may continue to grow year-round. It is the same plant, though the visible part is new each year.
Perennials also differ from annuals in the type of seeds they produce. Because annuals die at the end of every season, they have evolved to produce lots of seeds to increase the chances that some will survive and grow into new plants. Because perennials continue to live, they have evolved to grow a smaller number of larger seeds. These larger seeds can better compete with other plants and some develop more quickly to produce leaves, making it more likely they will survive. Thus, those who grow this type of plant in the garden may be rewarded with strong, viable starts for new plants. |
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| New seeds are not the only way to grow more perennial plants. Some plants can be grown from cuttings of existing plants; you have to simply cut off a stalk, plant it in soil, and with some care and water it will grow roots and become it’s own plant. Perennials are also hardy enough to survive being divided. When a plant has grown to a large enough size, a gardener can dig it up and carefully pull apart the roots and foliage, creating two or more plants. Using these processes, it is possible over a period of time to landscape a large area from a few perennial plants. |
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