Seed catalogs are out, and it’s time to select spring garden plants, with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans and squash being the popular choices.

These are all grown as annuals, plants that grow for a single season and are started again from seed the following year.

But what if you could plant once and harvest for years? Perennials are plants that will grow for more than 2 years and are left in the ground to harvest seasonally year after year or as needed throughout the year. Did you know tomatoes and peppers are actually perennials?

There are numerous benefits to perennial planting. Buy once, plant once, saving time and money. If you manage your garden beds by tilling, this will also reduce tillage, resulting in improved soil structure and stronger microbial life for healthier plants. Perennials will also develop more robust root structures for greater resilience during stressful periods like droughts and many are very attractive landscape plants. If this sounds good, there are many options available. The obvious choices are nut trees, fruit trees and berries. Other common perennials include asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish and mushrooms.

Often overlooked are many common herbs including chives, garlic chives, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary and lavender. Lovage is a lesser known perennial herb whose leaves provide a celery flavor.

When selecting perennial herbs, look for more cold hardy varieties. Rosemary is typically hardy only in zones 8-11, but Arp and Madeline Hill varieties are more cold hardy and suitable for zones 6 and 7. If choosing a variety that is borderline to our area, try to find, or create, a suitable microclimate or plan to mulch heavily and know it may not make it to spring.

Some exciting but lesser known perennials worth checking out are:

• Egyptian Walking Onion can be harvested year-round, and all parts are edible. It multiplies by sending out a stalk with bulbils at the top. This stalk eventually tips over and more plants begin growing at that site. The bulb itself is smaller than a traditional onion but also multiplies. The bulb, leaves and bulbils are all edible.

• Potato onions can be harvested year-round, producing bulbs smaller but similar to traditional onions found in the grocery store. If left in the ground, those bulbs will multiply into clusters of bulbs. Strains are being developed that produce larger bulbs and would make a nice addition to your garden.

• Hardneck garlic is grown by planting a single clove in the late fall and harvesting the bulb the following year. If that bulb is left in the ground, each clove will produce a bulb of its own the following year creating a cluster of bulbs. These may be smaller or misshapen, but perfect for harvesting as needed for home cooking.

• Scarlet runner beans are perennial in zone 7, typically growing back from the roots but evergreen in mild winters. The vines are very ornamental, productive and useful for hummingbirds and bees. Beans are best cooked or dried. There are also interesting new varieties being developed.

• Globe artichokes are also perennial to zone 7 but should be heavily mulched or protected.

• Sea kale is a hardy, ornamental green that comes up early in the spring and all parts are edible, including springs shoots that are used like asparagus. Sea kale has been grown on Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate since at least 1809.

• Finally, if you’ve ever left potatoes and sweet potatoes in their beds, you know they can survive mild winters and grow new plants in the spring. Very little information is available on this, but well-draining soil and protection in harsh weather would be needed.

Since these plants will be in their location for years, be sure to look to the future. How much space will the mature plant need, will it impact anything around it, does it have the potential to be invasive, like mint?

Ensure varieties are selected that are suitable to your location and be patient while they establish themselves. Many take several years before producing a harvestable crop.

Now back to tomatoes and peppers. Don’t they die over winter? In zone 7, they sure do. They are tender perennials and come back each year in USDA zones 9-11.

While that’s great for south Florida, what about southwest Missouri? With a little care, they can be grown as perennials here as well. In the fall, you can trim them back, lift them out of the ground and overwinter them in pots indoors, in the garage or a greenhouse. In the spring, once the chance of frost has passed, replant outside for another season.

Another way to continue growing that variety you really like would be to take cuttings later in the summer and maintain those over the winter, planting outside again in the spring.

Perennials, you plant once and harvest for years. What perennials will you add to your garden this year.

Debbie Kober is a member of the Barry County Master Gardeners. She may be reached at debbie.kober@gmail.com.