HOW A PERENNIAL PLANT SURVIVES WINTER
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Part of the appeal of the perennial plant is that it survives through most weather conditions all year round. Like your local postman, the perennial plant lives on through rain, sleet, or snow - which is great for animals, nature, and year-round gardeners. But what is it about the perennial plant that allows for its winter survival, whereas other plants seem to just shrivel up and die at the first drop of an acorn? And why can't scientists engineer an annual or biennial plant to last as long the perennial plant lasts?

Well like most things in nature, not all plants are created equally although some biologists are in fact succeeding in re-engineering annual and biennial plants to last longer. To do so, they must examine the perennial plant and find out what allows it to survive in the same environment that kills others. Although stretching the life of a non-perennial plant would certainly make the plant and floral business flourish - marketing isn't the only reason why you, scientists and others have this question. Some plants have medicinal properties. If we can have a bountiful access to these types of plants, we can study their curing capabilities at a faster rate than ever. But even so, it's mostly out of curiosity that we discover the robust nature of the perennial plant. Fortunately, you don't need to be a scientist to understand the longevity of the perennial plant - you just need to read this article.

Interestingly, the perennial plant is able to reappear year after year after year because of a number of things it does to survive and feed itself. Take trees and shrubs for example - trees and shrubs shed their leaves and protect their next year's growth with waxy scales. If you examine a bud of a perennial plant, you'll see that it appears to be covered with a sticky white substance. That stick white substance is wax and as you might have guessed, it's waterproof. When the bud begins to bloom, it scars as its scales fall off and the distance between its scars help us determine how many times a year that the perennial plant will grow.

In preparation for winter, a perennial plant will also drain its own food from its leaves down inside its trunk, branches, and twigs. As the temperature outside gradually decreases, the tissues of the perennial plant will slowly change and eventually become resistant to cold. This process is known as, "hardening." During these changes, the chlorophyll of a perennial plant will decompose and lose its propensity to project a green hue - leaving the tree with its beautifully colored red, yellow, orange, and brown autumn leaves.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.