Then of course there is 'annual' which is that it dies completely at the end
of the year or growing season.

Austin is interesting. I had a Japanese Red Maple; very pretty tree in a
very large pot. It sprouted new leaves in the Spring and grew from March
until May, went dormant for the blistering summer. Then, come August, it
would sprout all new beautiful red leaves and grow until November. Then go
back to sleep.

It is a tree so is herbaceous by definition. Perennial...comes back at least
once each year. Deciduous....drops its leaves. But what is it really?

Even the St. Augustine does it, but it was REALLY obvious with all those red
leaves right outside the back door. (Oh, how the migrating humming birds
loved it! One female spent a week sitting in the limbs and running off all
the other hummingbirds...)

Once you get past that green line between Dallas and Austin, you really need
a new term!

Bi-deciduous? Multi-perennial? Biciduous?

Definition: lives more than three seasons and has two dormant seasons per
annum.

:)

John

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"Stephen Henning" wrote in message
news
"Suzan" wrote:

Is there a specific word to describe plants that die back for the
winter?
Some examples would be Bleeding Heart, Hostas, Astilbe, etc.

They are herbaceous perennials.

After flowering in early summer, Bleeding Heart dies down, leaving a
gap
in the garden. The others usually die back with the frosts of fall.


That's not true of all varieties of bleeding heart, at least not in my
zone
6 garden. My dicentra 'Luxuriant doesn't go dormant in the heat as long
as
it remains moist and is in a shady spot.

Our native western bleeding heart blooms all summer long & even self-seeds
in somewhat sunny locations & can get a bit aggressive in its spread.

-paggers
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