Re: "Biennials?"

FYI, I have a five-year-old Italian parsley plant which I also would
prefer not be told that it was supposed to die three years ago (then I'd
have to go buy another one).  Every spring I clip off the developing
bloom stalk -- break the reproductive cycle, and the plant forgets that
it's supposed to be "biennial."  This technique does not work on a true
annual like the annual sunflower, I've tried it, which further gives me
reason to believe that the term "biennial" should be used loosely at
best.

A couple months ago I made the statement that an annual is an annual and
a perennial is a perennial.  Several people jumped all over my sh*t
saying, in a nutshell, that a perennial is only a perennial if it
survives the winter, otherwise it's an annual.  Following this brand of
logic, I guess none of these terms really mean anything.  Of course, to
the plants they don't.  These are just terms we humans invent to give
order to our own lives; the plants couldn't care less.

Dean Sliger
Warren, Michigan, USA
Zone 6B






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