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! :)

In my garden the once-blooming European old roses all seem to bloom more or less at the same time: from about mid-May through mid-June. Among roses, some of the ramblers may come later, but I'm not sure. After the big first flowering ends around mid-June it's hot and dry, and not much happens in the rose world until temperatures begin to drop in late summer and the reblooming roses get going. I wouldn't look to roses for blooms or other garden ornament in high summer. Lavender flowers in the summer, if I remember correctly, also trumpet vine; in Washington state some of the large-flowered clematis began flowering when the roses were finishing up. Buddleia is good for high summer. The point is to think of succession of bloom. And summer is so bright and hot and dry here that I don't even want to go out in the garden. Instead I stay under the pergola or find another shady spot and admire my begonias and sansevierias. Some of this will depend on your climate, of course. Good luck in your search. Melissa

WWII Memorial (lt. mauve/white), Fragrant Cloud (shocking orange red), Grande Dame (dk. pink), Pink Peace (med. to dk. pink), Pope John Paul II (white), Spiced Coffee (pink/yellow/tan-ish), Sugar Moon(white), Valencia (yellow/apricot) and Tahitian Sunset (orange/yellow) have the biggest hybrid tea blooms in my garden. I should add though, that these are cool weather blooms, as most shrink in our heat. All of the above are also highly fragrant. Of the lot, I would say Pope John Paul II is the most heat resistant (doesn't shrink). Most disease resistant (for my area) would be PJPII, Grande Dame, Valencia and Sugar Moon.

There are many good shrub roses that can attain considerable proportions with little attention other than a couple of cups of Rose Tone in the spring. Here are a few of my favorites: 'Applejack' gets to be about 6' x 6' in zone 4 and will be bigger in zone 6. It has rather informal light pink flowers that come in several flushes throughout the summer. This is a tough rose but does need full sun. 'Alba Semi-Plena' makes a huge shrub to 8' tall with beautiful fragrant flowers in the spring. It is very tough and can take some shade for part of the day. 'Celsiana' is a Damask that can get over 6' in my zone 4 garden. It has beautiful informal light pink flowers. 'Cerise Bouquet' is a huge rose that has reached about 10' x 10' for me. It flowers once in the spring. 'Clair Matin' is an outstanding modern shrub rose that gets to be about 6' x 6' for me in zone 6. 'Complicata' is a wonderful old gallica that easily makes 6' x 6'. It is hardy and reliable with little attention and has huge single pink flowers. 'Constance Spry' is one of the original Austin roses and still one of his best. The flowers a huge and very cupped. The plant is lax and needs some careful pruning to look its best. Fortunately, it suckers so will make a nice thicket over time. I keep mine about 5'. 'Eddie's Jewel' is one of the Moyesii hybrids and has deep red flowers on a 8' x 6' shrub. All the Moyesii hybrids make huge beautiful shrubs that flower once and require little care. 'Green Mantle' is my favorite of the Eglantine hydrids. As they are all quite similar any will do in this situation. They make 8' x 6' shrubs and are hardy and reliable. The frangrance of the foliage after a rain can be enjoyed 100 meters away. 'Harison's Yellow', the yellow rose of Texas, was found in a garden off Broadway in NY city about 1830. It has made its way all across the country. It makes a nice shrub about 6' x 5' for me in zone 6. It is about the first rose to bloom. It looks great with 'Cardinal de Richelieu' in front of it. 'Ispahan' is a Centifolia that makes a very tall but lax shrub. It is hardy even to zone 4. 'James Mason' is an outstanding modern srub rose with gallica genes. This rose easily makes 8' and does sucker around making an outstanding thicket of canes. It is very tough in zone 6 and grows with little care in partial shade. 'Lavender Lassie' is a modern shrub that gets to be about 6' x 6'. It blooms regularly throughout the summer with OGR type blooms. It is another of the outstanding roses from Kordes. 'Mme. Plantier' is a hybrid China rose from 1835. Everyone should have this rose. It makes a lax shrub 6' x 6' and blooms once with small very double white flowers. It is tough and reliable. 'Pleine de Grace' Now this is a shrub rose! My 14 year old plant knows no bounds. Its self supporting canes can easily reach 12' and with support will make another 6'. The flowers are profuse, white, single and about the size of a quarter. 'R. hugonis' is one of my favorite roses and makes a nice shrub easily 6' by 8'. It is one of the first to bloom with clear yellow flowers. Its fine foliage is rarely eaten by Japanese beetles. 'R. moyesii 'Highdownensis' is another of the Moyesii hybrids. I have to include it as it is such an outstanding rose. It will easily make a self supporting 10' shrub in zone 4. It is really a small tree and when in flower will have hundreds of flowers that makes for a spectacular landscape specimen visible for 100 meters. 'Roseraie de l' Hay' is a rugosa hybrid that makes a compact shrub about 6' x 5' with lush foliage that is disease free. It flowers several times throughout the summer and makes and outstanding and reliable shrub. 'Sara Van Fleet' is another rugosa hybrid. It gets to be about 6' x 5' for me in zone 4. It has light pink flowers and does suffer some dieback of unripe wood . 'Scharlachglut' is another modern shrub rose from Kordes. Its canes form a nice vase shaped shrub to 6' x 6' and is very hardy reliable and tough. The flowers are red and single. The hips are outstanding and pear shaped coming in huge bunches. Well, that should get you started. All of the above roses are easy to grow and require basic care of pruning out old wood and a spring application of fertilizer. I grow them with other shrubs and perennials in a mixed border for a nice display spring, summer and fall.