Nearly Native - European Garden Plants – Snapdragon

Name - The Snapdragon's botanical name is Antirrhinum, from the Greek anti = like and rhin = a nose, referring to the snout-like shape of the flower. The common names arises because if you squeeze the sides of a snapdragon flower gently the ‘dragon's’ mouth will snap open and closed.

Description – This pretty cottage garden favourite appears in a very wide range of colours including white, red, pink, orange, yellow and bi-colours and has a long flowering season with two peaks in April - June and August - October. If you’re growing them from seed, place the seed packet in the fridge for three days before sowing them to get a better germination rate. Once they emerge, keep them out of direct sun but give them lots of light. Snapdragons tolerate some cold, and can be transplanted outside from April, but acclimatise them first by placing them outdoors for increasing amounts of time over a period of a week or so. Choose a permanent planting site in full sun to light shade, with a well-drained, compost rich soil that is easy to keep consistently moist. Many people find that snapdragons do better with morning sun and afternoon shade, if you can provide it!

For Decoration – all snapdragons are sensitive to ethylene gas, and should be kept away from mature fruit and vegetables, especially bananas which are bad for many flowers, and excess heat. To promote the flowering of the buds, and to avoid stem curvature you can remove the top two to three inches. Until recently this was always done, although now some people feel this spoils the look of the flower. Wilted flower heads should be removed to promote the opening of upper buds.

European snapdragon photograph by Ely80, used under a creative commons attribution

 

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