Wisconsin Master Gardener Practice Exam

Plants categorized by how long they live: perennials live for more than two years. When a plant’s life cycle extends beyond two years, it fits the perennial pattern because it persists across multiple growing seasons and can-reflower over several years rather than completing its life in a single season or in two years. Perennials often survive winter via roots, bulbs, or woody stems and resume growth when conditions are favorable, sometimes producing blooms repeatedly over many years. In contrast, annuals complete their entire life cycle in one growing season and die after setting seed. Biennials take about two years to complete their life cycle, typically growing vegetatively the first year and flowering the second year, then dying. Monocarpic describes plants that flower once and then die, a pattern about flowering events rather than the length of life, so it doesn’t describe the ongoing multi-year lifespan that defines perennials.