Spring is in the air. Spring is one of my favourite times of the year as I can get to work in my garden and visit all the local garden centres.Pricing up your garden supplies before and after visiting your local garden centre can be very useful and save you a lot of money especially if you do your research online. Many specialist websites such as Tesco Garden Furniture can prove to be an invaluable resource when planning your garden.Annuals and perennials are an important part of all UK garden centres stock. The implications of choosing one or the other without fully understanding the specific characteristics of that plant can sometimes have unexpected or undesirable consequences.Trees and shrubs are perennials, as are many varieties of greenery and flowering plants; perennials can be small and dainty, large and impressive, or tall and stately – which means that size is not the sole characteristic that you can rely upon in determining whether a particular plant is perennial or not.Many perennials will come with old fashioned names and are the more traditional side of the modern garden centre. Perennials will last a long time but annuals will change regular as your tastes change. They will not survive wintering, and therefore, like trendy clothing, are intended to be featured in your garden for only one growing season. Amazing colours and sizes of plants will jump out at you when you visit a garden centre and these are generally annuals. When you visit the annuals section it is easier to imagine what can be achieved in your own garden and it is easy to get carried away with all the choice and colours. Larger garden centres usually have their own nursery which means that the annuals are usually freshly picked.