With hundreds of thousands of flowering plants in the world, it helps to understand how flowers are grouped. This guide explains the main types of flowers — by life cycle, growth habit and flower family — and links to in-depth guides on the varieties of popular blooms like roses, orchids and dahlias.
How flowers are classified
Gardeners and botanists sort flowers in a few overlapping ways. The most practical for choosing plants is by life cycle — how long the plant lives — and by growth type, such as whether it grows from a bulb, climbs, or forms a shrub. Botanically, flowers are also grouped into families and genera based on their structure.
Types of flowers by life cycle
- Annuals complete their life in a single season and must be replanted each year — examples include marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers and petunias. They flower quickly and bloom heavily.
- Biennials take two years, growing leaves the first year and flowering the second — examples include foxgloves, hollyhocks and sweet William.
- Perennials live for several years, returning each season — examples include peonies, daylilies, coneflowers and hostas. Many die back in winter and regrow in spring.
Types of flowers by growth type
- Bulbs, corms and tubers — flowers that grow from underground storage organs, such as tulips, daffodils, dahlias and lilies.
- Shrubs and woody plants — including roses, hydrangeas, camellias and azaleas, which form a permanent framework of stems.
- Climbers and vines — such as clematis, wisteria, sweet peas and morning glories.
- Wildflowers — native, self-sustaining flowers like poppies, cornflowers and asters.
- Tropical flowers — heat-loving blooms such as hibiscus, orchids, anthuriums and birds of paradise.
Popular types of flowers
Some flowers are so popular they’ve been bred into dozens of distinct types and thousands of varieties. Explore in-depth guides to the different types of each:
Browse the full flower encyclopedia for individual profiles, or explore flowers by color, birth month, or meaning.
Types of flowers by season
Flowers can also be grouped by when they bloom. Spring brings bulbs like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, plus flowering shrubs such as lilac and azalea. Summer is the peak season for roses, sunflowers, dahlias, zinnias and most annuals. Fall belongs to chrysanthemums, asters and Japanese anemones, while winter offers hellebores, camellias, snowdrops and forced bulbs like paperwhites and amaryllis.
Types of flowers by use
Another practical way to group flowers is by what you grow them for. Most gardens mix several of these categories:
- Cut flowers — grown for the vase, with long stems and good vase life, such as roses, dahlias, sunflowers, lisianthus and snapdragons.
- Bedding plants — mostly annuals used for seasonal color in beds and containers, like marigolds, petunias, zinnias and impatiens.
- Border perennials — long-lived plants that return each year to fill a border, such as peonies, coneflowers, daylilies and salvias.
- Bulbs — planted for reliable seasonal displays, including tulips, daffodils, alliums and lilies.
- Houseplants — flowers grown indoors, most famously orchids, African violets and anthuriums.
- Wildflowers — native, low-maintenance flowers for meadows and pollinators, like poppies, cornflowers and black-eyed Susans.
Common flower families
Botanically, flowers are organized into families based on shared structures — and a few families dominate our gardens. The Asteraceae (daisy family) is the largest, including daisies, sunflowers, dahlias, asters, marigolds and chrysanthemums. The Rosaceae (rose family) gives us roses along with many fruit blossoms. The Liliaceae and related bulb families include lilies, tulips and hyacinths, while the Orchidaceae (orchid family) is one of the largest of all. Recognizing a flower’s family can hint at how to care for it and which other plants it’s related to.
However you like to group them, the best way to get to know flowers is one bloom at a time — so dive into any of the type guides above, or browse the full flower encyclopedia.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of flowers?
Flowers are grouped in several ways: by life cycle (annuals, biennials and perennials), by growth type (bulbs, wildflowers, shrubs, climbers and tropicals), and by flower family (roses, lilies, orchids, daisies and more). Most garden flowers fall into one or more of these categories.
What is the difference between annual and perennial flowers?
Annual flowers complete their entire life cycle in one growing season and must be replanted each year, while perennial flowers live for several years, dying back and regrowing each season. Biennials fall in between, taking two years to flower and set seed.
What are the most popular types of flowers?
Some of the world’s most popular flowers include roses, tulips, lilies, orchids, sunflowers, daisies, carnations, chrysanthemums, peonies and dahlias — each with many varieties and colors to choose from.
How many types of flowers are there?
There are more than 400,000 known flowering plant species worldwide, divided into thousands of genera and families. Within a single popular flower like the rose or dahlia there can be dozens of classes and thousands of named varieties.
What are flowers that bloom every year called?
Flowers that come back and bloom every year are called perennials. Many are herbaceous (dying back to the ground each winter and regrowing in spring), while others grow from bulbs or are woody shrubs like roses.