Annuals are, as you said, plants that come up, flower, set seed, and die in one growing season. This season, however, can be variable. For instance, larkspur are planted in the fall in the south, flower in the spring, and die when the heat moves in. Yet, they are annuals. Your moss rose (portulaca) is a hot weater, self-seeding annual. If you grew it in an area one year, even though you pulled out the old plants at the end of the summer, it had already dropped thousands of seeds on the ground during the summer. The next spring, when the soil warms and the sun shines, up those seeds come. Moss rose (and many other annuals) that seed so generously are often called "annuals that behave like perennials". They are beloved (and occasionally cursed) for this trait. You do need to realize that if the varieties you grow were hybrids (as many portulacas are), when the seeds volunteer, they may very well not be the same colors as the ones you planted in the first place. Some gardeners actually "select" their own colors, by watching volunteer seedlings carefully and pulling out all except the ones they want to keep. Over a period of years, by allowing the desirables to set seed and denying this to the undesirables, they can get nearly all the volunteer seeds to come true. Now, for the dianthus. Botanically speaking, dianthus are bi-ennials. This means they come up from seed and make roots, stems and leaves in one year, overwinter, and then bloom, make seeds, and die the next year. "Bi"-meaning two. "Ennial", meaning year. Get it? This being said, there are lots of kinds of dianthus. Some do exactly what I just described. Some are self-seeding, so they volunteer. And some are very perennial-like in their behavior. I have some that are perennial-like. They return reliably, but to keep them in top health, they need to be divided every other year or so. I discard the old, tired centers, and replant the fresh, new divisions. It sounds like this is what you have. The funny thing is, one of the best perennial-like dianthus I have was in a six pack of the bi-ennials that I bought one fall. The other five bloomed the following spring and died when the heat moved in, but that one didn't. I have had it for several years now and have divided it and spread the wealth all around. Another one I have was a pass-along from a friend who got hers in the same way. Another, I ordered from a nursery. As you can see, dianthus are quite variable. (Just another note, MOST dianthus don't like the south's heat and humidity. But, as already stated, there are notable exceptions.) I'd say this one you have is a true keeper, for the odds were totally against it. Very few plants would have survivd that long in a four inch pot, let alone inside. I highly recommend that you put all the divisions outside, and give it some care. Sounds like a winner to me. Just so we cover all the definitions, a true perennial is a plant that, although the above-ground parts "die" each year, the roots do not. So, they are said to go "dormant" each winter (or sometimes summer, depending on the plant), and then the roots produce new stems, leaves, flowers, etc the following spring. Although most perennials can be grown from seed (though not necessarily easily), most do not bloom the first year from seed. But, since they return year after year, they are called perennial. The definitions are pretty clear-cut, but as you can see, the plants don't know that, and there is a good bit of blurring of the lines. Hope this helps! :)

they do benefit from a sweet soil ,a top dressing of horticultural lime, and some bonemeal, should pick them up.Be sure to scratch it in lightly and water well.If their soil is depleted,use a top dressing of a good sandy loam.Light and friable,sharp drainage is essential.Marvelous plants that require little fertilizer or fuss.I have sheared off spent bloom ,but never ,live leaf.They will send out fresh new growth and the old leaves will wither away and can then be plucked out.-D

Coloradobird, I've never grown 'Red Plume', but the pictures sure look nice. Since it's an annual, unless a local nursery has it for sale in the spring, you probably will have to start it from seed. I never grew from seed much, until I discovered wintersowing a couple of years ago. It's not a foolproof method, but it's a lot easier than babysitting a bunch of sprouts indoors. I'd guess my success rate has been somewhere between 65% - 75% using that method, and a whole lot cheaper than paying for full sized plants. As far as 'Burgandy' goes, I had five of them, two of which I wintersowed, but just this week I lost one in a windstorm. All of mine made it through their first winter just fine though. My only issue with them, is that they are a bit floppy, like the full sized Gaillardia grandiflora. I prefer the neater look of the compact varieties like 'Goblin'. Maybe someone will come out with a compact 'Burgandy' one day. Bonnie

Hi Bonnie, This is the first chance Ive had to get here, but donÂt worry too much about your "annual" dianthus. Almost all of the dianthus sold as annuals come back for at least a couple yearsÂand IÂve had them come back for 4 or 5 years at times. (And theyÂd probably come back even better for me, but I tend to kill them when I cut them all the way down more than once a summerÂto keep them compact and neat lookingÂand they definitely DO look neat thenÂÂcause theyÂre GONE!) I usually buy a 4 or 6-pak each spring and put a couple more in to make up for any that might die that year. And the reason I keep some around is because you CAN get red reds. So plant away! Since itÂs so late in the year, you might want to be sure you put them in a sunny spot where theyÂll stay a little bit warmer, or a place where they might be covered with snow all winter to keep them warm. And they will never develop much of a root system, so theyÂll need to be watered pretty regularly next year. A "perennial" dianthus you might want to try in addition to the annuals is Dianthus gratianopolitanis ÂSpotty (also spelled ÂSpotti sometimes). It was always a favorite of mine, and I called it dark redÂsometimes close to burgundy, and each petal has two white spots on it. I donÂt have one, because this is one of the perennials I will not buy unless itÂs blooming so I can actually see the flowers. They vary WIDELY from two very neat and distinctive spots on the petals, to two very washed out and diffused spots that make it look very differentÂand much pinker when the white blends with the red. Dianthus deltoides ÂFlashing Lights is another possibility, but itÂs another buy-only-when-itÂs-blooming one! Even when I was selling them, the color could vary from batch to batch from BRIGHT red to pinkish red. There are just so many different dianthus, I think they get mixed up pretty easilyÂand you DEFINITELY know about not getting what you thot you bought! I think there may be a couple other possibilities I canÂt remember the names of right now, but IÂll try to find time to check it out in the next couple weeks and get back here. You have all winter, so thereÂs really no rush on this one. Enjoy your annual dianthusÂnext year, Skybird More 'Spotty' http://www.fredmeyer.com/garden/flowers_dianthus_spotty.htm http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?invocationType=imageDetails&query=dianthus+spotty&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northwesthort.com%2Fplantimages%2Ftn%2F28076.jpg&site=&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northwesthort.com%2Fcatdyn.asp%3Ffil%3DD&width=68&height=68&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3ALB77m_K3pl2AbM%3Awww.northwesthort.com%2Fplantimages%2Ftn%2F28076.jpg&b=image%3Fquery%3Ddianthus%2Bspotty%26page%3D1%26clickstreamid%3D5540602965202505000 'Flashing Lights' http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?invocationType=imageDetails&query=dianthus+deltoides+flashing+lights&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildchicken.com%2Fnature%2Fgarden%2Fdianthus_flashing_light.jpg&site=&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildchicken.com%2Fnature%2Fgarden%2Fnature_200_127.htm&width=124&height=86&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AQ29MQ26AFXd32M%3Awww.wildchicken.com%2Fnature%2Fgarden%2Fdianthus_flashing_light.jpg&b=image%3Fquery%3Ddianthus%2520deltoides%2520flashing%2520lights http://www.peoriagardens.com/images/perennials/DianthusFlashingLights.jpg