This too-pretty-to-be-a-snapdragon offers the most gorgeous rosy pink flowers imaginable. Rising to an awesome 3′ tall and smothered in bee and hummer loving flowers all spring & summer, these are snaps to make you swoon. Each of the fully double 1” flowers exudes a pleasing fragrance, making them a great cut flower to catch a sweetheart’s eye or nose.
Outside, this colorful annual is best planted in stands in order to achieve an eye-catching display. Sun lovers and preferring fertile, well-drained soil, they are one of the easiest flowers to grow. After the first bloom period, make sure to cut back to the highest branches that did not produce flowers. Then give plants a bit of bloom fertilizer (like Maxsea Bloom) and watch as plants produce a second vibrant bloom. Much stronger than bedding snaps, this beauty is much more impervious to rust. Not favored by deer.
Snapdragons are very popular short-lived garden perennials that are usually grown as annuals. They are a mainstay of classic flower gardens, with infinite uses, from mixed border gardens to flower boxes to patio containers. The common name derives from the shape of the individual flower heads, which resemble the snout of a dragon, and which even open and close in a snapping motion, as often happens when pollinators open the jaws to reach the pollen. Snapdragons rely largely on large bumblebees for pollination, as smaller honeybees are unable to open the flower’s “jaws.”
Bright snapdragon flowers bloom profusely throughout cool weather in intensely saturated colors (almost every hue) and are real standouts in either the spring or fall garden. The flowers start blooming at the bottom of the stalk and work their way up, making for a long period of bloom. Although snapdragons tend to slow down and stop blooming in heat of mid-summer, if you keep them watered, they will perk up and carry your garden through the fall.
These are great filler plants for containers, baskets, or for planting in garden wall crevices.
From seed germination to flowers can take two to three months, so snapdragons are often started indoors many weeks before the last winter frost.
- Common Name Snapdragon, dog’s mouth, lion’s mouth, toad’s mouth
- Botanical Name Antirrhinum majus
- Family Plantaginaceae
- Plant Type Perennial, annual
- Mature Size 6–48 in. tall, 6–12 in. wide
- Sun Exposure Full, partial
- Soil Type Moist, well-draining
- Soil pH Acidic, neutral
- Bloom Time Spring, summer, fall
- Flower Color White, yellow, pink, red, orange, purple
- Hardiness Zones 7–11 (USDA)
- Native Area Mediterranean, Europe, Asia
