There is a whole new language to be embraced when you first start to garden. We have just selected 5 gardening terms that you may come across.

1. Annual is a plant that grows and dies in the same year. (not from neglect but because it is programmed by nature to behave like that). Many weeds and quick growing flowers are annuals. Biannuals grow one year and flower the next.
2. Hardy annuals spend their life outdoors. Half-hardy annuals need some spring and early summer protection. Most popular bedding plants are half-hardy annuals.
3. Perennials are plants that are designed to last several years and keep performing for some time. To keep clumps of perennials healthy it is worth digging them up when they get over crowded, discarding the old woody middle and replanting healthy remainder.
4. Herbaceous perennials are plants that die down at the end of the flowering period and new top growth appears the following season. This is unlike hardy  perennials such as shrubs and trees which tend to be woody.
5. Bedding plants are those that are used in the border or beds to give a spring and summer display after which they are normally lifted and composted.

A rose is a Perennial shrub