What Occurs During the First Year of a Biennial Plant's Life Cycle?

First-Year Growth

• Biennials planted from seed develop a rosette of leaves, but do not bloom the first season. Foliage dies back when the fall frost arrives, but the roots survive the winter. Occasionally biennials produce a weak show of blooms the first year, but this is not common.

Successive Years

• Biennials that bloom and go to seed in the second year drop the seeds that sprout into new plants. These new plants produce a rosette of leaves that again overwinter to produce blooms the following year. This begins a healthy cycle of first-year and second-year growth in the flower bed.

Maintaining Biennials

• Establishing a bed of biennials requires planting new seeds for at least two consecutive years. Seeds planted the first year bloom in the second, while those planted in the second year continue the cycle so that your bed produces both rosettes of leaves and blooming plants each year. For the best display of blooming plants, sow heavily for the first two years and allow your plants to continue the cycle naturally.

Self-sowing

• Biennials depend on dropping seeds to produce first-year growth. Deadheading excessively or otherwise preventing them from going to seed naturally may break the cycle of first-year and second-year growth and cause the flowers in your bed to cease blooming.

Cautions

• Tilling the soil in your biennial bed disrupts the existing plants and prevents them from developing into blooming plants the next year. Allowing the plants to self-seed wherever the seeds fall creates natural clusters of blooming and first-year growth. If you prefer neat rows of flowers, biennials may not be a suitable choice for you.