Beets and carrots are biennial edible plants. Harvest them at the end of the first year of growth before they become woody when they start producing flower shoots in the second year.

Biennials are plants that actively live out their lives for two growing seasons. They germinate from seed and grow to maturity for the first season. Like perennials, they usually have a semi-rest or slower growth period if weather is less than ideal and return to full growth when temperatures warm. In their second part of growth, they then bloom, set seed and die. Examples of biennials are parsley, edible beets, Sweet William and Forget-Me-Nots. Often sold as they come into bloom, many biennials may be mistaken for annuals. Often they live for only a year but are called biennial because their growth is split over two calendar years. Most annuals will go through their full growth cycle in a single growing season.

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