Any plant that persists for several years, usually with new herbaceous growth from a part that survives from season to season.
Trees and shrubs are perennial, as are some herbaceous flowers and vegetative ground covers. Perennials have only a limited flowering period, but with maintenance throughout the growing season, they provide a leafy presence and shape to the garden landscape. Popular flowering perennials include chrysanthemums , columbines , lockspurs , hollyhocks , phlox , pinks , poppies , and primroses . See also {{link=annual">annual , biennial .