Snapdragon Care

Snapdragons are perennial plants (meaning they they do not die once they have flowered and will live for more than one season.

Snapdragons are cut and come again flowers. Harvest spikes low on the stem and they grow back with multiple stems.

Different species are classified as Group 1 - 4 indicating if they prefer short light days and lower temperature or longer light days and higher temperature for flowering. In my garden they flower from spring to autumn. Because I have a large range of different species and some have cross pollinated and grown from self sown seeds, I tend to not take too much notice of the groups. My main interest in the collection has been creating a huge range of colour variations and selecting for tall stems and lovely flower shape. Newer strains have been bred for longer flowering conditions.

Cut Flowers

Pick snapdragon spikes when 1/3 to 1/2 of the buds are open. The flowers will continue to open in the vase. Vase life is usually 7-10 days. Change vase water regularly to reduce bacteria growth in the water. Snapdragons need to be kept vertical as they are gravitropic and if stored on their side the flower spike will curve to grow upwards.

Garden Flowers. 

Pinch dead flowers from the plant to encourage further flowering. Cutting of dead flower stems deep encourages longer new stem growth. Snapdragons my require staking if they grow very tall as wind and rain can cause them to bend. They are gravitropic which means the stem and flower spike will actively curve upward to grow vertically.