Annual A plant that completes it’s life cycle in one year or less. Often annuals reseed themselves causing them to seem as if they are returning the following year when really it is a new plant. In Utah we often call some plants annuals that are really perennials in other regions. This is because these plants cannot survive our winters, causing the life cycle to end in one year when in a milder climate it would have carried on into the following growing season.
Balled-and-burlapped Refers to shrubs or trees sold with a large ball of soil around the roots, wrapped in burlap (or synthetic material) to hold the soil together.
Bare-root Refers to deciduous shrubs, trees, and some perennials sold for planting with the soil removed from their roots.
Biennial A plant the germinates and produces foliage and roots during it’s first growing season, then blooms, produces seed, and dies during it’s second growing season.
Bud An undeveloped organ or shoot of a plant. A flower bud develops into a blossom. A growth bud produces shoots of leafy growth.
Bulb An underground stem base that contains an embryonic plant surrounded by scales. Although not true bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers are often referred to as bulbs as well. Tulips (Tulipa) and Daffodils (Narcissus) are examples of true bulbs.
Cane An elongating flowering or fruiting stem, usually growing directly from the roots.
Conifer An evergreen plant which bears seeds in cones or cone-like structures such as Cedars (Cedrus) or Pines (Pinus).
Corm A swollen underground stem base composed of solid tissue (unlike the scales of true bulb). Crocuses (Crocus) are corms commonly seen in Utah.
Deadhead To remove spent flowers. This is used to prevent a plant from setting seed, prolong the bloom season, and keep the garden looking tidy.
Deciduous Any plant that naturally sheds all of it’s leaves at one time–usually in the fall.
Dormancy The period during winter when a plant’s growth greatly slows down. It can be compared to an animal hibernating for the winter.
Drainage The downward movement of water through the soil.
Drip Line The imaginary circle around a tree directly under it’s outermost branch tips. Rainwater tends to drip from a tree at this point.
Established Plant A plant that is firmly rooted and producing good foliage growth.
Evergreen A plant, shrub or tree that never loses all it’s leaves at one time. Boxwoods (Buxus), Yews (Taxus), and all Conifers are some examples.
Fertilize To apply nutrients to a plant.
Flower The part of a seed bearing plant that contains the reproductive organs.
Flower Forms: single, semidouble, double Single petaled flowers have only one row of petals containing the minimum number of petals fro that species. Often we thinks of these as “daisy-like”. Semidouble flowers contain two to three times the minimum number of petals, usually in two to three rows. These would appear as “fuller” but with the flower center still visible. Double flowers have and abundance of densely petals in many rows typically producing a rounded blossom shape with the flower center not easily visible.
Fruit The mature ovary of a plant containing on to many seeds. A fruit can be what we traditionally consider a fruit like a peach or cherry, but fruits also include things like acorns or pea pods.
Growing Season The days between the last killing frost in spring and the first killing frost in fall. The Salt Lake Valley’s growing season averages from April though October. But this isn’t completeley reliable.
Harden off To adapt a plant that has been grown indoors under ideal conditions to the harsher outdoors conditions. The plant is exposed to increasing periods of time outside so that when it is finally planted it experiences minimal shock.
Hardy A plant that is highly tolerant of frosts or freezing temperatures.
Herbaceous The opposite of “woody”. Refers to plants that die completely to the ground each year and regrow stems the following growing season. A common example would be peonies (Paeonia) and mums (Chrysanthemum).
Hybrid A plant resulting from a cross between two species usually within the same genus. These plants are usually produced as a more favorable variety than the original species.
Leaf The main photosynthetic organ of most plants. Some leaves are divided into separate segments called “leaflets”.
Leafburn Brownish, dried-out tissue around the edges of a leaf as a result of damage from sunlight, chemicals, strong wind, or lack of water.
Microclimate The climate of a small area that is affected by factors other than just the overall climate of the region. Microclimates are determined by factors like hills, hollows, houses, air conditioning units, and other structures.
Naturalize To set out plants or bulbs randomly and allow to grow as they would in the wild. Sometimes gardeners will toss bulbs into an area an simply plant them where they fall to achieve this effect.
Offset A young plant that develops usually near or at the base of the parent plant. This is also the term used for the increases of bulbs and corms.
Organic Matter Any material originating from a living organism that can be dug into soil to improve it’s condition (also called amending the soil) Compost and manure and some of the more popular types of organic soil amendments.
Peat Moss A highly water-retentive, spongy organic soil amendment. Peat moss is used to increase soil’s ability to retain water and to increase soil acidity.
Perennial A nonwoody plant that lives for more that two years. Common examples include Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and Bleeding Heart (Dicentra).
Pollination The transfer of pollen from the male reproductive organs to the female ones, which leads to fertilization and seed production. Some plants require a pollenizer–another plant which provides pollen for the former plant.
Rhizome A modified stem growing horizontally at or under the soil surface. The most common Utah rhizome is the Bearded Iris.
Root-bound A condition resulting from a plant growing in the same container for too long. As roots grow outward and hit the sides of the container they begin to circle and tangle becoming “bound” together. Plants should not be planted while still root-bound. Uncoil the root a bit or make several vertical slits through the root mass before planting to encourage the roots to spread once in the ground.
Rootstock Also known as “understock”. The part of a grafted plant that furnishes the roots. Many roses are one cultivar grafted onto another which serves as the rootstock.
Self-seed, Self-sow A plant that sheds fertile seeds that produce seedlings. Cosmos (Cosmos) and Johnny Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor) are excellent (sometime too excellent) self-sowers.
Specimen A tree or shrub large or striking enough to make a significant impact in a planting often becoming the focal point.
Standard A plant trained to resemble a small tree, with a single, upright trunk topped by a rounded crown of foliage. The “tree rose” is a familiar example. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is also commonly trained this way.
Stolon Also known as “runners”. Stems that creep along the soil surface, taking root at intervals and forming new plants where it roots. Strawberries are an excellent example of this kind of spreading.
Sucker In a grafted plant (such as a Rose (Rosa), sucker growth originates from the rootstock rather than from the desired grafted part of the plant. Suckers should be pruned down to the originating point to prevent them from taking over the plant.
Taproot A thick central root that may penetrate deeply into the ground. Carrots are friendly versions of a taproot. Unfortunately, many weeds are as well.
Tender The opposite of hardy plants. Tender plants have a low tolerance for frost or freezing temperatures. Given the fact that the Salt Lake Valley is mostly freezing during the winter months, most of the tender plant you will find here are annuals.
Thin When pruning, to thin is to remove entire branches (but not all branches, that would be to “massacre”) Seedlings or developing fruits can also be thinned by removing excess plants or fruits so that the remaining ones are space far enough apart to grow well.
Tuber A swollen underground stem with multiple growth points scattered over it’s surface. The potato is a famous tuber.
Tuberous Roots A true root, thickened to store nutrients. Unlike tubers, tuberous roots carry their growth buds at the bases of old stems rather than on the roots themselves. Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are very popular plants in Utah that are grown from tuberous roots.
Variegation Striping, edging, or other markings in a color different from the primary color of a leaf or petal. Many plants come in a variegated form.
Water Sprout A vertical shoot growing from the trunk or roots of a tree. Also called “suckers”.
Woody A plant with hardened stems or trunks. An herbaceous plant is the opposite with soft stems.
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