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What/ why are perennials grown as annual?

TheRainyGardenTheRainyGarden Posts: 51
in Plants
Why are those not intended to be kept long term like other perennials? I understand if they can’t survive Uk winter (like eggplants and pepper) or just not worth the effort (like tulips that may not flower again in years), but what about primroses and pansies that are well suited for UK weather and flowers quite a lot? Why are they treated as annual?

Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    They are sold as bedding plants, so you can make a fast display. But there's no reason you can't plant them out in your garden like any other perennial. Pansies are short lived for me but most primroses and primulas are very reliable. The very fancy ones disappear quite quickly but I've quite a few drumheads and coloured primulas that have been in my garden for 10 years, quietly spreading and hybridising.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    The cynical answer is £££££. If they're marketed as bedding, people will buy them for instant colour, chuck them out when they finish flowering and then buy more the next year. Primulas of all types are certainly worth keeping, particularly if you have a few really nice ones in amongst a mixed bedding pack.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Sometimes the line may be not that clear. Plants like diascia as sold as annuals, it seems, but I keep mine for years and they are great each summer with a bit of a haircut. (Also easy to grow from cuttings). Also wall flowers, sweet williams can be fine to keep and don't get too woody.

    Sometimes a plant that could be perennial in it's native env is too tender to be treated like that in cooller parts of the UK. But in some parts of the UK could be ok. Some years my lobelias have carried on through from the last year and bacopa also.

    Some people and municiple parks, perhaps householders without gardens, want cheap, colourful and cheerful things to whack into window boxes or beds. At the end of season that chuck them out. It does seem like waste, but when you can get a box of plants for a fiver in supermarkets, it's a temptation. You can also produce seasonal bright bedding for £3 from a packet of seed. Then collect the seed and do it again next year.
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