A plant that takes more than one years and less than two year to germinate, grow, flower and produce seed after which it dies, is termed as a ‘biennial’.
Canterbury Bell
In temperate climates, seeds of biennials are sown in early summer to produce flowering plants in the following year.
Vegetative growth takes place during the relatively high temperatures of the first summer, and flower bud initiation takes place during the lower temperatures of autumn, winter or spring and flowering takes place at the higher temperatures of the following summer.
Some very regular biennials are foxglove, forget-Me-Not and Canterbury Bell.
The best and safest way to treat biennials is to plant the seed in June-July in seed pans.