How Do Annual Plants Grow In Nature?

Question

I have always wondered why we have to keep buying some plants. How do they survive in nature when they have no human to grow and look them??

Answer 1

True annuals complete their life cycle in one season. They grow, bloom, set seed and die. The seeds allow them to propagate themselves. The seeds grow the next spring. Annuals that reseed easily in the garden include zinnia, Mexican sunflower, Larkspur, four o'clocks, cleome, marigold, cosmos, and columbine.

Some cold season (hardy) annuals such as pansies may survive the winter.

If you are growing tropical plants, they do not return because they are indigenous to regions that stay warm during the winter and live year round. If you try to grow a tropical plant in a place that experiences cold winters, they will not survive. That is why we overwinter our tropicals indoors when temperatures drop below 60 degrees F.

Here is more about tender perennials that we grow as annuals:

https://extension.psu.edu/how-hardy-are-your-annuals

https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6629