Firstly--No annuals will live summer and winter. A few perennials will not die back completely to the ground but most do. Annuals are called annuals because they only live for one season.

The nicest looking foundation planting combines a few shrubs or evergreens and flowers --annual or perennial. All flowers produce seed, but not all seeds will germinate and grow. Tender plants' seed doesn't grow because it can't take freezing.

If you want a plant it and forget it and expect a lovely garden, you won't get it. Those lovely gardens you see require work.

Thanks Oilpainter, but i think i might have mistyped or something. I don't need a plant that grows in both summer and winter. I just want the garden to look nice in all seasons instead of just one. I've never gardened before but the garden that was there before had one plant that just spread like crazy. I don't care if there is some maintnance, i can handle it. I just don't know what to stay clear from and what is a good beginners plant

I'm trying to plant a garden that is very easy to maintain (all Annuals)

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you better move into perennials.. because.. as far as i am concerned.. annuals require the most maintenance of all the plants ...

ken

Annuals or Perennials Require just about the same level of care.
With annuals you have to plant every year and deadhead, but it is easier to get the weeds out with nothing in the ground
With Perennials you have to weed around them, dig them up and divide them about every 3 years, and deadhead.

If you are starting from scratch and have room in your beds it is nice to have some small shrubs or evergreens in the background. They do 2 things give you that base that covers some of your foundation and makes it look lived in year round. In your zone you have lots of options.

If you don't have room for shrubs then investigate grasses. There are tall grasses and short grasses and some that look beautiful all winter.Just make sure they are not invasive--some grasses take right over

I would put in a few perennials and then annuals to fill in in between. As for varieties they too are numerous.

The best advice I can give is to draw up a plan giving the dimensions of the bed and the light conditions and consult your local greenhouse garden center and get their suggestions. If there's more than one in your area consult them all and see what the concensus is. You can also have a look and see what you like.

Consult the plant tags--most tags give you the mature height and width of a plant--whether it requires sun or shade or part shade--which is at least 6 hours. Go easy on the expensive plants at first. You can always and probably will move things around and you don't want to be moving shrubs too much but after a year or 2 you will know what you want. With shrubs plant away from the foundation so you have air space when it's mature and check that they won't interfere with the eaves.
Hope this helps

Another thought:

Check out the seed companies on line. You can get the zone that you are growing in and check out flowers that you like.
If they are perennial check the zone, flowering time and light required--less than 6 hours of sunlight is shade--more than 10 hours is sun and part shade is in between.

Not all perennials are invasive like the plant you were talking about. Annuals will drop their seeds too and some can be a problem. A nice garden is a mixture of both.

Armed with the plants you like, then go to the nursery--and pick a nursery that has greenhouses and grow their own plants not a big box store. Your first question should be is it invasive.

On line seed companies--Burpees, Parks. Stokes seeds, Vesey's seeds and there are more--search for seed companies.

Also check out entry gardens on line and in landscape books you can get at the library, to get an idea of the kind of plantings you'd like, and the style you'd like to go with.

If all this sounds like work--it is. But the satisfaction is there too. The other solution is to hire a landscape gardener

Perennials don't require near the work that annuals do.
Annals have to be planted every year and deadheaded faithfully or they will stop blooming.
Perennials have a 'bloom period" and will bloom for that period weather you dead head or not...
And many many perennials live for years and years without dividing.
But a perennial garden has to be planned to have continual color.
You can start with the early bulbs, like crocus and species tulips and go on to the daffodils and the Darwin tulips and Siberian Iris, peonys, day lilies, Asiatic lilies, shasta daisys, hemerocallis, and on to mums and asters.
But for my money for ease of care and constant bloom, you can't beat the knock out roses!
Linda C