Gardening isn’t always a walk in the park. While the result is beautiful, the process involves diligent planning and care to produce the most beautiful flowers or the tastiest produce. From knowing how long your ornamental flowers will last — does an “annual” bloom annually? — to understanding the hardiness of your new tomato plants, learning the lingo that comes with having a green thumb is crucial for any budding horticulturist. How many of these key gardening terms have you mastered?
Annual
Living for a year or less, perpetuating itself by seed.
There is a common misconception that plants called “annuals” (especially their flowers) come back yearly, or “annually,” but that is not the case. “Annual” plants have a life span of one year and then they need to be replanted. The most common types of annuals are wildflowers, weeds, popular garden flowers (including marigolds, zinnias, petunias, and begonias), and many food crops, ranging from corn and wheat to legumes and lettuce. The word “annual” fittingly stems from the Latin annus, meaning “year.”
Perennial
Living for several years.
A “perennial” plant grows back year after year; it does not need to be replanted. It is perceived as the horticultural opposite of an annual. This word was adopted into English from the Latin word perennis, meaning “lasting through the year,” and has been used to describe plants since the mid-17th century. Trees and shrubs fall under the perennial category because they live for more than one year. This means that all crops that grow on trees — apples, coffee, citrus, etc. — are perennials. Herbaceous plants (plants that are nonwoody) can also be perennials. Popular types of perennials for at-home gardening include chrysanthemums, dahlias, and poppies.
Biennial
Living or lasting for two years.
Some plants fall into neither the “annual” nor “perennial” category — they live for two years. The term “biennial” was derived from the Latin word biennium, aptly meaning “two-year period.” Most members of the parsley family are biennials, including coriander and dill. Vegetables such as carrots, onions, Brussels sprouts, and beets are also biennial. Ornamental plants can be biennial, too, from the tiny blue flowers of the forget-me-not to towering foxgloves — which can reach 5 feet in height. Beginning gardeners, be aware: Most biennials only bloom during their second year of life.
Cultivar
A plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding.
In horticulture, there are two ways to describe different variations of plants within the same species: a “variety” and a “cultivar.” The main difference is that a cultivar requires human intervention (through grafting, cutting, asexual propagation, etc.), while varieties occur naturally. Common cultivars are ornamental plants such as roses and daffodils, or garden crops such as heirloom tomatoes.
Most roses bought at the store are cultivars (multigenerational hybrid plants), and their original ancestor species are probably not grown anymore. Many cultivar names are trademarked, such as the brilliant orange “Tahitian Sunset Rose,” or the pastel pink “Rainbow Knockout” shrub rose. The word “cultivar” itself originated in horticulture in the 1920s as a portmanteau of “cultivated variety,” in which “cultivated” is an adjective meaning “refined and well educated.”
Heirloom
Denoting a traditional variety of plant or breed of animal which is not associated with large-scale commercial agriculture.
“Ayre lome” existed in English in the 15th century. The most traditional use of this term is to denote a valuable object passed down for generations, but it’s used similarly in horticulture to describe a plant or crop that was open pollinated (not the result of controlled hybridization) and grown from seeds that are handed down (hence the nostalgia and heritage associated with the word “heirloom”). There are even organizations dedicated to preserving such seeds. No legal definition of “heirloom” exists, so farmers and gardeners can use the term freely to market their flowers and produce. Tomatoes are among the most popular heirloom vegetables, and each comes with its own name, from the Sun Gold and Rosella Purple varieties, to quirkier names like the Mortgage Lifter, which grows to the size of two fists.
Germination
The development of a plant from a seed or spore after a period of dormancy.
From the Latin word germinationem (“a sprouting forth, budding”), the germination period of a seed is how long it takes a seed to sprout after it is planted. For example, a sunflower seed will most likely germinate within 10 days of being placed in soil. The temperature of the soil and moisture level are key determinants of germination success and length. Germination can be improved by correctly sowing (planting the seeds of) the plant based on the needs of the species.
Hardiness
The ability of a plant to live through the winter without protection from the weather.
In horticulture, plants are assigned a “hardiness” level based on their ability to survive in certain zones, according to cold temperature tolerance. In the United States, the “hardiness zone” is divided into 10-degree zones based on the average annual minimum winter temperature. The plants that successfully grow in Florida (Zones 8 through 11) are different from the plants that grow around the Great Lakes (Zones 1 through 7). For example, a Zone 3 plant (cucumber) can grow in cooler climates, while a Zone 9 plant (avocado) has more success in warmer regions. The word “hardiness” comes from the Old French hardir (“to harden, be or make bold”). It’s been used in reference to plants — “to survive in the open year-round” — since the mid-17th century.
Propagation
The breeding of specimens of a plant or animal by natural processes from the parent stock.
This is an Old French loanword, from propagacion, meaning “offshoot, offspring,” from the Latin word for “extension” or “enlargement,” propagationem. When gardeners use the word “propagation,” they are growing more plants from a parent plant through sexual or asexual methods. For plants, sexual propagation means seeds. It is how plants grow in nature, but it is also how many farmers and gardeners plant. Asexual propagation uses parts of the plant (called “cuttings”) to make a clone of the parent plant. A common way to propagate succulents is by using cuttings from leaves or stems to sprout new plants under the right conditions.
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