Snapdragon

Snapdragon: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright, branching plant 20–90 cm tall depending on the variety, and 20–40 cm wide.

Leaves

Narrow and lance-shaped, 2–7 cm long, glossy green.

Flowers

Two-lipped flowers with a closed ‘mouth’ in dense spikes, opening from the bottom up, from June to October.

Colour

White, cream, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and bicoloured; there are also varieties with open, bell-shaped flowers.

Fruit

Small capsules full of fine seed; when dry they look like tiny skulls.

Flowering: June–October · Sowing: February–March · Plants: April–May · Pruning: April and August

Why grow it?

• Flowers from June to October, especially if you pick regularly or remove spent spikes.
• A classic cut flower that lasts well in a vase.
• A huge choice of colours: white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and bicoloured.
• Bumblebees crawl into the flowers: fun to watch, for children too.
• Dwarf varieties suit pots and edges, tall ones the back of the border and the cutting garden.

Snapdragon: where does it grow best?

• Full sun gives the most spikes and the sturdiest ones.
• Free-draining, not too rich soil: sand, loam or clay; acid, neutral or chalky.
• Normally moist: do not let it dry out, but avoid wet feet.
• Tall varieties out of strong wind, or with support.
• Plant dwarf varieties 20 cm apart, intermediate ones 25–30 cm and tall ones 30–40 cm.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

0.6 m tall, 0.3 m wide

Hardiness

Tolerates light frost (to -5 °C)

Goes well with

• Cosmos: Airy flowers in the same colours, also a good cut flower.
• Zinnia: Bright colours and the same long summer flowering in the cutting garden.
• Purpletop vervain: Tall purple clusters rising above the snapdragons.
• Lavender: A blue, fragrant edge in front of dwarf snapdragons.

Snapdragon: when and how to plant it?

Plant in April–May.

1. Sow indoors in February–March at 18–20 °C: scatter the fine seed on the surface and do not cover it, as it needs light to germinate.
2. Prick out the seedlings into small pots as soon as you can handle them, and pinch them out when they have 3–4 pairs of leaves.
3. From April, harden the plants off for a week: outside by day, indoors at night.
4. Plant out in April–May, at the same depth as in the pot, 20–40 cm apart depending on the variety.
5. Water in straight away and put in a cane or netting for tall varieties at once.

Care

Watering

In dry spells, a good can of water once a week at the base, not over the leaves: this limits rust and other diseases.

Feeding

In pots, liquid feed for flowering plants every two weeks; in the border, some compost at planting is enough.

Support

Tall varieties can flop after rain or wind: give them a cane or horizontal netting.

Deadheading

Cut off spent spikes above a couple of side shoots; this keeps it producing new spikes.

Picking

Cut for the vase when the bottom third of the spike is open, early in the morning.

Tip: Sow indoors in February–March and pinch out the young plants for more flowering stems. Pick often: the more you cut, the more new spikes it makes.

Snapdragon: when to prune it?

Pruning months: April and August.

When: Pinch out the young plants in April. In August, after the first flush of flowers, cut the plant back for a second flush.

How:

• In April, pinch or cut out the tip of young plants above the third or fourth pair of leaves: this gives more flowering stems.
• All summer, cut off spent spikes just above a couple of healthy side shoots.
• If the plant looks untidy in August, cut all flowering stems back by about half; it will flower again after a few weeks.
• To collect seed, leave a few spikes in September until the capsules turn brown.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Indoors in February–March at 18–20 °C, without covering the seed. Germinates in 1–3 weeks. It also self-seeds.

Cuttings

In August, take 8 cm cuttings from non-flowering side shoots; overwinter them frost-free to keep a favourite colour for next year.

Snapdragon: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −5 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Tolerates light frost to about −5 °C; it rarely survives harder frost.
• After a mild winter it often regrows in a dry, sheltered spot and then flowers very early.
• To try overwintering, cut it back to 10 cm in November and put some leaves around the base.
• Cuttings overwinter in a bright, cool, frost-free place with little water.

Diseases and pests

• Rust: Yellow spots on top of the leaves and orange-brown pustules underneath. Remove affected plants, do not water over the leaves, grow snapdragons in a different spot next year and choose rust-resistant varieties.
• Downy mildew: Leaves curl and yellow, with greyish fuzz underneath, especially in wet summers. Remove diseased plants and leave space between plants.
• Aphids: On young shoots and flower buds. Hose them off or let ladybirds do the work.
• Slugs: Strip young plants after planting out. Check in the evening and pick them off.

Through the year

• February: Sow indoors at 18–20 °C.
• March: Sow indoors. Prick out seedlings.
• April: Pinch out and harden off young plants. Plant out.
• May: Plant out. Support tall varieties.
• June: Flowering starts. Pick for the vase.
• July: Flowering. Cut off spent spikes. Water in dry spells.
• August: Cut back after the first flush. Take cuttings.
• September: Second flush. Collect seed.
• October: Last flowers until the frost.
• November: Clear spent plants or cut them back to overwinter.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The name Antirrhinum comes from Greek and means ‘like a nose’, after the shape of the flower.
• Only heavy insects such as bumblebees can push open the closed flower; smaller insects cannot reach the nectar.
• The snapdragon is one of the classic model plants of plant genetics: research on it helped explain how flowers get their shape.