One of the plants you’ve probably seen most often the past couple months are snapdragons! Aside from being an aesthetic winner for most every garden style, snapdragons have quite a few unique characteristics, and I highly recommend trying them out the next growing season.
Snapdragons – the common name of many plants of the genus Antirrhinum – earned that title for its bizarrely structure flower. So much so that, if one flattens the pedals, you can make out the face of a dragon (I’m not so convinced, but they sure look great)!
Snapdragons perform best in full sun to partial sun conditions, leaning towards more. They’ll need well drained soil because of the susceptibility to root rot. Watering less is not going to help in this situation, so making sure your garden plot effectively drains water is key.
Once you’re set up and ready to grab your snapdragon, be specific in your choice. Snapdragons vary in height depending on the species. Dwarf snapdragons typically range from 6-8 inches, medium range from 15-30 inches, and tall can reach a range of 30-48 inches. This is something I’d ask the bedding house about just to be sure. Maintenance tends to be similar for all three.
The best time to put these in your garden is between the months of April-June and August-November. This can change quite substantially in different zones, but most people will treat these plants as flashes of annual color to be replaced. Snapdragons can technically survive and do all the time for multiple years but require a bit more attention than most people are willing to give rather than just spending the extra bit of money during peak seasons to replace them. So, for the purposes of casual gardening, I like to call them annuals. If you are willing to take the dive and grow one of these as a perennial, dead-heading dried-out flower petals is a must.
Now is likely when you’ll get the best deals on snapdragons, but if you’re looking to wait, I’d keep them in mind come this April. It works too well with too many other plants, and I’d love to see more in the yards of Louisiana.
