From David Beaulieu,
Your Guide to Landscaping.
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Definition:

What makes annual plants "annual" and perennial plants "perennial?" It's all in the life cycle. Botanically speaking, annual plants complete their life cycle in one year:

• You place the seeds of last year's annual plants in the ground in spring
• New annual plants sprout from the seeds
• With proper care, during the course of the summer, these annual plants produce flowers
• Toward the end of the growing season, their flowers yield seeds -- signaling to the annual plants that their life cycle is complete

The Difference Between Annual Plants and Perennials

Thus the difference between annual plants and perennials. For perennials usually don't produce flowers their first year (grown from seed) but make up for it by flowering more than 1 year. That is, they have a longer life cycle.

Some plants that are perennials in their native (e.g., tropical) lands are treated as if they were annual plants in colder regions. Here, one might say that usage trumps botany. E.g., lantana plants are, technically, perennial, but they're treated as annual plants in regions far to the north of their ancestral home -- regions too cold for them to complete their life cycle.

Some folks understand all that but still have trouble with the words, "annual plants" and "perennial plants." If you can't seem ever to remember which is which, use the following as a mnemonic device:

• The root in both words, "annual" and "perennial" (i.e., per-annual) is the Latin word for "year," annus
• Annual plants are thus those that last but a year in their native climes
• Perennial plants have something extra: that "per" in their name. The per- prefix in Latin intensifies or adds to what comes after it. So perennials live additional years, when compared to annual plants.

Also Known As: annuals, annual flowers

Common Misspellings: anual plants, anule plants, anuel plants, annuel plants

Examples: Although annual plants last only one year, their color displays make them well worth the investment for your landscape. Many folks prefer to buy perennials at the nursery, rather than starting them from seed: nursery-grown perennials are well established and may flower the first season you transplant them into the ground.