What is Annual?
Annual means that comes once a year, they do not come back during that year. Annual pertains to getting once a year and returning back the next year. Anything annual needs to get renewed each year, anything which is annual means that its life cycle is of one year, and for a new life cycle it needs to wait for the next year.
Anything can be annual, an event, a birthday, or any publication that is bound to happen every year.
Most prominently annual plants are the plants that grow, sow, seed and die all in one season.
The annual plants need to germinate themselves in the same season so the process of reproduction happens at the same annual rate.
Annual plants grow at the same time, so one can enjoy and experiment with the annual plants without having a long-term time and energy commitment.
Annuals have the tendency to provide quick gratification, they are low maintenance, and they do not need to be weeded out each time. Their life cycle is so short some survive a summer season or a hard winter season only.
Due to the short time period any annual has, it makes it possible to do all things in that time.
It works hard to cope with the growing, blooming, germinating and regerminating all at a speedy time bound speed and within a single year.
What is Perennial?
Anything which is not annual can be perennial. Perennial can be of two or more two years. Most of the small shrubs and small trees are perennial. Some perennial plants are temperate-restricted, a few can grow in cold winter climates while they cannot grow in hot or humid weather.
Perennials feel costly and expensive initially, but they can be a long-term investment as they can sustain for a longer period of time like nearly 3 years.
Most of the perennial plants need to have less water supply, making them good for drought struck areas, and eventually, it has the benefit of less water consumption.
Perennials that are native to your environment are best for pollinators to help regenerate and regrow natural and local plant life.
Perennials can bloom in any season too, some bloom during spring and may bloom in the winter season.
Perennial roots can sustain their roots even in the harsh winter months. Due to this nature, the perennials sustain for many years without even a maintenance cost.
Perennials may seem costly at the start but they are having low maintenance and they need less cost to regrow so they perennials have a low per-year cost.
Difference Between Annual and Perennial
All the annual plants do not need a special time frame to get sown, they can be sown at any time of the year, as they are annuals, they can be grown any time, while a perennial is bound to have a time frame. They grow in the spring season.
Annuals can bloom without the help of new reproduction techniques; they are short-lived so they try pretty hard to cross-pollinate too and bloom annually.
Perennials have a time frame to get their flowers to bloom, likely they will bloom for a short time period, for a week.
The cost of planting the annual is less when given the face value cost, they are relatively cheaper to buy, while the perennials seem to have more cost than the annuals but if that cost is divided by the number of years it will last, it will seem quite affordable.
Annuals need annual maintenance; perennials need less maintenance.
Annuals take more water, perennials can also grow in dry and barren lands, cutting the water consumption cost.
Comparison Between Annual and Perennial
| Parameter of Comparison | Annual | Perennial |
| Life Cycle | Can live for a single year | Can last for more than 2 years, some may last longer |
| Season | They live for only one growing season, need to grow again the next season | They regrow in a specific spring blooming time |
| Death | Annual die as a whole each year | Do not die as a whole, few parts may die, mostly the upper parts |
| Rapid Growth | Their turnaround is quicker, they grow and regrow quickly | Takes a time frame for each perennial to grow and regrow itself |
| Reproduction | Seeds are used to help in reproduction | Seeds and bulbs of the perennials help them to grow. |