Types

• There are three plant life cycles. Annuals complete their full life cycle in a single year, growing from seed, flowering, producing seed and dying. Biennials require two years for the same process, usually producing foliage the first year and flowers the second. Perennials return for more than two years from roots, bulbs and buds able to survive the winter cold.
  
  

Annuals

• There are two types of annuals, according to horticulture educator Anne Streich of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. Winter annuals germinate in the fall and produce seeds in the spring. Most garden plants fall under the classification of summer annuals, which germinate in the spring, blossom during the spring and summer and produce seeds in the fall. Annuals work well in temporary plantings like hanging baskets or to fill in perennial beds.
  
  

Perennials

• Perennials become the more permanent residents in your garden. Perennials include both herbaceous perennials, which die back each year, and woody perennials, where the woody stems remain and give rise to new foliage and flowers.