These flowering plants complete their entire life cycle from seed to flower and back to see within a single growing season. Essentially, roots, stems, leaves, and flowers all die at the end of the year. The seeds stay dormant until the following season. A few annual examples are Marigold, Geranium, Cornflower, and Impatiens.

These plants persist for many growing seasons. The root remains the same; however, the top sections of the plant die out in winter and then regrow in the spring. It is observed that many perennial plants tend to keep their leaves year-round. Perennial examples include Coneflower, Columbine, Coreopsis, Daylily, and more.

Biennials will take two full years from germination to seed to complete an entire biological life cycle. A rosette of leaves appears near the soil surface during the first year (essentially the primary growth of stems and roots). In the second year, the stem would elongate, and flowers and seed formation would occur before the plant eventually died out.

Sweet William Dwarf, leek, cabbage, parsley, foxglove, and hollyhocks are good examples of Biennials. Some biennial plants in the wild will take longer than two years to mature and complete their cycle fully.

Certain flowering plants exhibit annual or perennial characteristics depending upon where it is grown. For instance, the Black-eyed Susan flower would grow faster in Texas due to warm weather – thus, it would behave as annuals. On the other hand, the same Black-eyed Susan in Minnesota would grow slower due to cold weather – thus, it would behave as a biennial.

The flowering shrubs are small to medium-sized perennial woody plants with woody stems from the ground. There are two kinds of flowering shrubs, namely deciduous and evergreen. Deciduous shrubs (often also called bushes) shed their leaves and floral parts at the end of each growing season in winter or dry seasons (e.g., Hawthorn). The other types of shrubs are called evergreen, where foliage remains green for many seasons (e.g., Ilex/Holly).

Unlike flowering trees, they are shorter in height, usually 6 to 10m. The shrub flowers usually appear in clusters on the stems. Some flowering shrubs are Hydrangea, Azalea, Camellia, Lilac, Forsythia, Quince, and Deutzia.

Trees are perennial plants with elongated trunks, supporting branches, leaves, flowers, or fruits. Like flowering shrubs, trees can also be deciduous and evergreen. It has been documented that trees have existed for 370 million years. Flowering trees help to form a backbone for your garden with lovely flowers. Magnolia, Cherry blossom, Eastern redbud, Trumpet trees, Dogwood, Banksia, and Acacia are good examples of flowering trees.