An annual plant completes its life cycle in just one season, from seed to flower to producing seeds, all before frost kills the plant. To find out what a perennial is, click here.
Some annuals are pretty when used as a low hedge or border around other plants.
Annual flowers also are wonderful companions to perennial plants, especially perennial gardens which have been recently planted and may not bloom the same season. Plant around mailboxes, in an old tire, or in a wheelbarrow. Annuals are wonderful in large containers, too, and in hanging baskets. Combine with spring-flowering bulbs, summer flowering bulbs, perennial plants, blooming shrubs. They're also great combined with a lot of other annual flowers.