A quick note about the term “perennial.” It has many meanings. It describes herbaceous plants that live more than two years; growing and blooming over the spring and summer, dying back every autumn and winter, and then returning in the spring from their rootstock. Perennial plants and resilient polycultures in agriculture represent both the tangible and metaphorical foundation for our New Perennials work. 

Perennials live in communities for long periods of time. Contrasting with annual plants and forms of though, this is an altogether different approach. Not better, just different. But it suggests the power and necessity of diversity, the need for communication, the value of staying put, the necessity to get along with your neighbors, and an importance of long-term strategy.  Annuals are more opportunistic, putting their energy in the above-ground seeds and flowers. Perennials, on the other hand, put their energies in their roots and building communities. Perennials are known to grow down before they grow up. This root development can be mistaken for stunted growth, but really is the process of a perennial setting themselves up for sustained survival. They have a wisdom built for the ages, not a single season. We have to imagine perennial plants and trees having better communication skills and potentially “altruistic” behaviors, as individuals that live in communities typically do. Perennials would have some “memories” that would be useful as a new seasonal cycle starts.