perennials are every bit as geared towards reproduction as annuals and today we're talking rootstock perennials...the intermediate wheat grass and gamagrass are still flowering ( first and second photos ) and they have been joined by the chinese yams ( third photo ) the asparagus has been flowering cyclically...seeming to be working its way from the northwest corner of the garden to the southeast ( i don't know if there's any significance in that or not...but it's what's happening ) so the fourth photo is of a plant to the south east and the fifth photo of asparagus "berries" is a plant towards the northwest...the major difference between annuals and tuberous plant/replant perennials and rootstock perennials is that in the former humans eat the reproductive organs ( seeds, tubers ) whereas in rootstock perennials we eat stored starches or stems and shoots...plants are weighted heavily towards reproduction ( like every other living thing ) and so the annuals and tuberous perennials produce far more food than the rootstock perennials...it would take a lot more work to make a living off chinese yams than jerusalem artichokes or wheat...so rootstock perennials aren't usually ( if ever ) staples...status or medicinal foods ( you can buy chines yam extract all over the place but it took me a couple of months to run down plants to purchase ) but not everyday support food...too much work spread over too much land area...and too difficult to take along if you're moving too...it's also why rootstock perennials can be invasive...no one is eating the "seeds" so they're free to grow...chinese yams for instance.
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