Meaning & use
annual plant
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A plant that grows from seed, flowers, produces seed and dies all within a single growing season or year.
Grammar: Countable: an annual plant, many annual plants.
Patterns
- an annual plant such as something
Marigolds are an annual plant that you must sow again every spring.
An annual plant puts all its energy into making seeds.
Many vegetables, including lettuce, are grown as an annual plant.
Word forms
| plural | annual plants |
|---|
Common combinations
- grow an annual plant
- We grow an annual plant in the front bed each summer.
- hardy annual plant
- Cornflowers are a hardy annual plant that survives light frost.
- flowering annual plant
- A flowering annual plant adds color to a border.
- sow an annual plant
- Sow an annual plant directly in the soil after the last frost.
- annual plant life cycle
- The annual plant life cycle lasts only one season.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annual
- Annual used alone is the common gardening shortcut for an annual plant.
- bedding plant
- A bedding plant is one grown for display and is often annual, but the term describes use rather than lifespan.
- seasonal plant
- Seasonal plant is a loose phrase and may include perennials that only look good in one season.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: annual plant or perennial plant?
annual plant vs perennial plant
A perennial plant lives for many years and returns each spring, unlike an annual plant that dies after one season.
Practice
Which of these is an annual plant?
Choose one answer.
Sunflowers complete their life cycle in a single season. Oaks, rose bushes and apple trees live for many years, so they are perennials.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “annual plant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.