Great question! The first thing you may wish to consider is your location. Do you live in a fairly warm place or is it snowing every other day? Plants are dependent on water, nutrients, sunlight, temperature, space, time, and air quality. There are 4 types of plants: Annuals, Perennials, Deciduous shurbs/trees, and Evergreen shrubs/trees.
Plant material is broken down into 4 category types based on stem texture, life cycle, and leaf retention. Steams are classified as being herbaceous or woody. An herbaceous stem is soft green stem that is often found on flowering plants. Whereas a woody stem has a hard, rough, "woody" texture that is often found on trees and shrubs. Therefore, our flowering herbaceous stem plants are cetegorized as either annual or perennial plants. Woody stem trees and shrubs are categorized as either deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs.
Which Types of Plants Are Best?
Preferred plant types are ultimately up for you to decide! Each is unique and follows their own requirements. Annuals and perennials are known to be flowering, therefore, making them decorative and a wonderful gift for friends or loved ones. Deciduous trees or shrubs earn their claim to fame from their fall colors and multipurpose uses such as homes for small critters. Evergreen trees or shrubs are used decoratively for holiday celebrations and barriers around property lines.
Annuals :
An annual is a plant that grows for 1 year/growing season. They do not return for the following year. As a flowering plant, they can be colorful and vibrant. If you enjoy working in the garden or flower bed each spring, annuals would be a great option. Pricing out seeds or plants are fairly afforadable and the varieties are bountiful.
Examples! - Snapdragons, Petunias, Marigolds, Dahlias, Periwinkles
Petunias
Marigolds
Perennials :
A perennial is a plant that grows, flowers, dies, and returns all during 1 growing season. They grow and flower for up to 2-10 years. Their stems are herbaceous and soft. Their blooms are upright and taller than annuals (as shown below with the tiger lily plant). Although their leaves die, the roots continue to keep alive. During the down part of the season, which usually persists in part of fall and all of winter, they go "to sleep" to conserve energy. They require deadheading. Deadheading is the action of cutting the dead, brown, flowering part of the plant off. Similarly to annuals, they are bountiful in variety and aesthetically appealing.
Examples! - Black-Eyed Susans, Daylillies, Tiger Lillies, Shasta Daisy, Phlox
Tiger Lily
Shasta Daisies
Deciduous :
If you would like to add trees or shrubs to your flower beds, one item to consider is their leaf retention. Do you want the item to remain green all year or do you want the item to flower into a beautiful color? Trees and shrubs that do not retain their green leaf color all year long are deciduous trees. At some point during the growing season the tree or shrub will flower. After flowering, the tree will put on green leaves. By the fall/winter time the tree or shrub will drop those leaves and become "naked" for the winter. The leaves of a deciduous tree or shrub are much larger, flat, and broader than the leaves/needles of an evergreen. During some point of the growing season they will flash their colors of orange, reds, and yellows proudly.
Examples of deciduous shrubs! - Butterfly Bush, Hydrangea, Burning Bush, Forsythia, Lilac
Forsythias
Examples of deciduous trees! - Maples, Flowering Cherry, Dogwood, Magnolia, Oaks
Flowering Cherry
Evergreens :
Trees and shrubs that retain their green color all year are evergreens. These trees and shrubs oftenhave narrow leaves or needles to them, which will remain green all year. They aid in creating privacy barriers and require low maintenance. Needles may periodically shed due to weather changes. Many evergreens are drought tolerant and can withstand dry periods of time.
Examples of evergreen shrubs! (mature height is less than 15 feet and has multiple stems at its base) - Littleleaf Boxwood, Yew, Juniper, Holly, Rosemary
Littleleaf Boxwood
Examples of evergreen trees! (each has one trunk from the base and extends beyond 15 feet tall) - Spruces, Pines, Leyland Cypress, Hemlock, Firs
Hemlocks
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