Types of garden plants

Annuals

Annuals are plants that live for a year or less based on Latin 'annus', meaning ‘year’. Annuals are also known as seasonal flowering plants which flower only for three to four months. They are normally grown through seeds. They grow, flower, and make more seeds and die, within a year. Annuals are great for creating an instant effect and adding color to your garden. Planting annuals also gives you the option of changing the layout of your garden after a year. Most annuals are tender and some of them like phlox look beautiful and are excellent as borders and hedges.

Examples of Annuals are Asters, Bachelor button, Phlox, Balsam, Basil, Cosmos, Petunias, Marigold, Salvias etc.

Aster (China Aster)

Scientific Name : Callistephus Chinensis Family : Asteraceae Common names : Aster, China Aster Flowering     Period : August-September Colour : Various

The family Asteraceae has an estimated 1,150 genera and a huge number of species seen almost all over the world originating from North America, Europe, and China etc. The large China Asters are the most common form grown by florists and gardeners. Native to Asia, it has a wide array of varieties and the height ranges from 6 inches to 3 feet. Most species of Aster are perennial and generally bloom in August. They have daisy-like or star-like flower heads (4-6" in diameter) with a yellow center on leafy, often tall, stems. Their colors vary from white to creamy yellow, pink, blue, red and purple. They do well in beds, borders or pots and are favorite as cut flowers because of their longevity.

Biennials

Biennial is a plant that takes two years to grow from seed to fruition, bloom and die or a plant based on Latin 'biennis' meaning ‘two years’. These are also seasonal flowering plants that flower only in the second year of planting. After blooming, they don’t perform well the following year and then die. If you want to have blooms with biennial flowers year after year, you have to plant seeds every year. Foxglove is one of the examples of Biennial.Some plants grown as biennials are, botanically speaking, short-lived perennials.

 Foxglove plant

Foxglove plants are classified as biennial: leaves form a rosette close to the ground the first year, succeeded by a spike with blooms the second and final year. But under favorable growing conditions they often last longer, blooming another year or two. In this case, they may be considered herbaceous perennials. Foxglove plants often reseed themselves. Foxglove plants are tall, slender perennials at 2-5' in height and just 1-2' wide. Numerous tubular flowers bloom on a spike, ranging in color from purple to white. Foxglove flowers appear in the summer months.

Grow foxglove plants in partial shade in a well-drained, acidic soil, rich in humus. Established foxglove plants may tolerate dry shade.

Perennials

The Latin 'perennis' means ‘many years'. Perennials are those flowering plants that last longer and keep on flowering. Most take two years until they are old enough to bloom. Examples are Bleeding Heart, Water Lily, Gerberas, Geraniums etc. Once you plant them there is no need for replanting year after year. But they are not a good option, if you want to change the layout of the garden frequently. Most perennials grow best in slightly acidic soils (pH 6.5 to 7.0) and prefer six to eight hours of sun per day. Watering should be deep, infrequent and applied directly to the soil. This type of watering will promote deep rooting and will help reduce leaf diseases.

Gerbera

Scientific Name : Gerbera jamesonii Family : Asteraceae/Compositae (Daisy Family) Common Names : Gerbera, African daisy Flowering Period : All year round Colour : white, red, cream, orange, pink, purple & yellow

Gerbera flowers come in vibrant colours adding beauty to your garden. It has around 40 species spreading from Africa to Madagascar into tropical Asia and South America. Gerbera are plants with a height up to 18 to 24 inch and 4 to 10 inch diameter flowers. There will be more than ten leaves in a plant, medium green in colour spread out in a circle parallel to the ground. These plants can be planted in gardens, containers and pots. These cut flowers last long and give colour and beauty to any room. There are many hybrids that come in white, cream, yellow, orange-pink, purple or violet. These plants are usually grown in greenhouses and are used for cut flowers. Gerbera flowers all year round.

For best results the plants need a liberal amount of sun and water. Half a day of direct sun and half a day of partial shade and remaining slightly moist at all times is ideal. High source of light can give an abundance of flowers.

Reading & Writing

9. Read the text once again and fill in the second column of the “logbook” “I have learnt about garden plants”.

 

Vocabulary Focus

10. Match the words from two columns to create a phraseand make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “My concept of plants”. Share your ideas with the partner:

 

to obtain	favorable growing conditions
to produce	species of plants
an imperative	garden plants
to enhance	into characteristic shapes & sizes
innumerable	normal amounts of chlorophyll
to nurse	energy from sunlight
to flourish	need for growing plants
under	the aesthetic beauty

11. Match the words from two columns to create a phraseand make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “General characteristics of annual plants”. Share your ideas with the partner:

seasonal	an instant effect
to grow	the layout of the garden
to flower	as borders and hedges
to create	through seeds
to add	flowering plants
to change	and make seeds
excellent	color to the garden

12. Match the words from two columns to create a phraseand make sentences to use them in your own text entitled «Biennial plants”. Share your ideas with the partner:

 

flower	perennials
plant	in color
short-lived	longer under favorable conditions
form	in the summer months
to bloom	dry shade
to last	in the second year of planting
to appear	a rosette close to the ground
to range	on a spike
to tolerate	seeds

13. Match the words from two columns to create a phraseand make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “Perennial plants and favourable conditions for their growth”. Share your ideas with the partner:

 

to keep on	beauty to the garden
to give	deep rooting
to grow	leaf diseases
to apply	flowering
to promote	in a circle
to reduce	an abundance of flowers
to add	best in slightly acidic soils
to spread out	directly to the soil

Listening & Speaking

14. Pair work. Role play the following situation: your professional partner and you are going to create a flowerbed for the university. Discuss the details concerning plants, soil, constructed elements and things. Highlight the most important stages. Share responsibilities.