Hmmm.... I think I've got a couple of gardening books I need to lend you! There are annuals which only last one season but may freely re-seed themselves forever. Then there are perennials which come back year after year (despite the brutal winters). Quirky bi-annuals grow the first year and manage to survive (some even staying green) throughout the first winter only to flower and die the second season. Many bulbs actually *need* to be planted in the Fall because they need a period in the cold ground in order to flower.

If you are walking in the woods and find a clump of daffodils, look around because you will almost certainly see a very old house foundation. Flowers, like trees, can out-live the people who planted them. Now pots (and ponds ;-) are a different story!

Allynn