Snapdragons – A Flower Garden Workhorse

Snapdragons are a classic flower garden staple that grow in a wide variety of climates and can be found all over the country. As a child, I must have heard they got their name because when you grab a flower with two fingers, you can make the flower appear to talk like a little dragon.

But like with many flowering plants, if it's too common and too popular, I tend to find it another boring garden staple. That was before my gardening philosophy evolved. I now love a good garden staple, but I look for unique, interesting versions. The reason we love a good garden staple is that they are hardy, produce a lot of colorful flowers and are overall easy to grow.

When I lived in New Mexico, I once bought some yellow snapdragons to fill out a garden space in a large pot. And three years later, they were still growing. Of course in colder climates, they are treated as an annual and need to be replaced every year.

You can get smaller varieties for pots, and even larger versions that get up to 3 feet tall as cottage garden statement plants. You might be surprised at all of the varieties that can sometimes be found at local garden centers. You can of course start them from seeds, which I've done every year. If you start looking for certain colors or unique versions online, you can find an endless assortment.

One thing I like about snapdragons is their "spire" appearance. They are not quite as dramatic as some of the lupines or digitalis flowers you see. But planting them en masse can be quite a display. I do recommend staying with one color, or combining two similar colors. Imagine a mass grouping of pale pink snapdragons in bloom, which is more appealing than the entire box of crayon colors screaming at you.

I will scatter a few snapdragon seeds in a pot of flowers and forget about them. Then a few weeks later, notice them growing. They will often re-seed and keep coming back even in a colder climate. They do have very tiny seeds. So if you're not experienced growing a lot of flowers from seeds, these will probably require a little extra attention because you're dealing with something in between the size of dust and sand.

The Aley Acres seed shop on Etsy.

Dahlias, Notes from a Gardener book on Amazon.

Floral Art and Landscape Painting Etsy shop.

TikTok, some gardening posts.