Facts About Growing Snapdragons

Here in North Texas, Snapdragons are usually planted in late fall or early spring as they are not a heat loving flower. You can plant seeds in early spring, and they should be blooming by the time summer starts. The best time to plant seeds are a few weeks before winter starts up so that you can have snapdragons growing in the winter.

A good way to know when to plant snapdragons is to frequently visit your local garden nursery. This is also a great idea for any plants as to know when to plant them.

The two types of snapdragons that I have grown are a small busy kind, and a tall stalky one. The stalky version has the blooms growing off a central stalk system, and looks similar in growth to hollyhocks, gladiolus and delphinium.

The short bushy variety grows to around a foot tall when allowed to have full sun, watered frequently and fed on a regular basis. A rich composted soil mix will make certain of excellent growth for the snapdragons.

Color schemes can vary from yellow to dark purple with these beautiful flowers. They come in reds, purples, whites, yellows, muted blues, and oranges. There are many other colors you can find them in. A day spent looking for the color you want will be well worth it.

Taller snapdragons can reach up to three feet tall, and need to be spaced no closer than nine inches so that they do not crowd each other out. You may want to space your plantings a little more. I like my garden to look sort of wild. That is why I plant mine closer.

You could make an entire flower garden out of snapdragons, by planting the shorter variety towards the front as a border, and the taller version at the back to show off. There is also another variety of snapdragon that grows somewhere in between the other two varieties. This one would make an excellent filler between the other two.

Snapdragons also are a wonderful indoor flower simply because of the fragrance they give off. Setup an indoor window box for a south facing window, and you will have a room filled with fragrant snapdragon. Company will be amazed that such a delightful aroma would come from this colorful plant.

This would be a great way to have a fragrant home all year long. Growing snapdragons indoors may take some learning, but it will be well worth waiting for.

Sources:

http://www.flowers.vg/flowers/snapdragon01.htm

http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Middle_East/Palestine/photo33581.htm

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1994/3-23-1994/snappy.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Wildseed/40/40.7.html