A friend was shopping to fill her patio boxes and asked for my suggestions. Gardening is not her love, so the plants needed to be hardy and easy to care for.
Knowing she likes color, I made the usual suggestions, geraniums, begonias, or lantana, but it was getting to be late in the spring planting season and the choices were limited. We traded a few texts and maybe a picture or two but her patience was wearing thin and she was ready to check this plant shopping trip off her list. The next thing I know she was loading trays into her car and headed home.
Turns out with no help from me, she picked the perfect plant. Snapdragons!
Who doesn’t love snapdragons? Seriously, a plant that gets its name because when the flower is squeezed it resembles the snout of a dragon is always a good choice.
The botanical name is Antirrhinum majus roughly translates to “like a snout.”
Another fun fact about snaps dragon snout: Pollination generally occurs from bumble bees, they are larger and can open the flower to reach the nectar. Smaller honey bees are not strong enough to release the snout and get inside.
Snapdragons like sun but not the heat. This flowers blooms steadily in the cool spring and fall but may rest during the hot temperatures of summer. Water, lots of water will help keep the flowers coming all summer long. Remember my friend the non-gardener – because of this summer’s heat and the fact that she is a caretaker of everything and everyone (kids, dogs, plants, and friends), she is watering her boxes every morning and every night!
Snaps come in a rainbow of colors. And although they can be grown from seed by starting seeds indoors several weeks before the last frost, it’s easy to buy them in 6-packs from the garden center. The mixed-color starters can be planted when frost is no longer a threat. Pick a sunny spot and give them lots of water. As the first blooms appear, pinch the stems back. This will signal the plant to bush out and create more stems, which means more flowers.
When the first flowers appear, it is also time to give them a shot of 10-10-10fertilizer. The extra nutrients will support the young plant as it grows to maturity.
Because of their versatility, snapdragons were a good choice for her patio containers. They are also the right flower for a cottage garden or to add color to a sunny spot.
You may not have much control of the color palette, but different varieties offer different heights. Dwarfs will be 6-12 inches tall, while the tall snaps can be 4 feet tall. So, consider the variety when placing them in your garden.
Snapdragons are annuals in our area. Further south they may be classified as a perennial but are treated like an annual because they may not bloom after the first year.
The bees and hummingbirds will help drop seeds and if the flowers are not deadheaded quickly, they may drop seeds too. That’s no guarantee they will appear the following year, but don’t be surprised if they do.
This summer after my friend’s accidental purchase of snapdragons – I say accidental because it wasn’t until she got home and sent a picture that the plants were identified – I have re-ignited my love of these pretty dragon snout flowers. It’s too late this year, but next spring I will add them to the sunny bed of blooms at the little house on a big hill.