It’s not easy to replace warm season annuals while they are
still blooming.
It’s not easy to replace warm season annuals while they are still blooming. However, whether you want to get an early start on cool season annuals, or wait for the warm season annuals to succumb to cool winter weather, this is about the time be plant primrose, Iceland poppy, stock, pansy and of course, snapdragon, botanical name Antirrhinum majus.
Snapdragons are actually perennials that are grown as annuals. If planted in autumn, they will be happy to bloom through the locally mild winter. They can survive through summer if pruned back; but during warm weather, they are very susceptible to rust, and do not bloom as well as the warm season annuals that usually replace them. (Rust is a fungal disease that appears as minute but profuse, orange pustules, mostly on the undersides of leaves.)
Although typically not as common as rust, powdery mildew is also possible.
Snapdragons planted early get established faster and therefore bloom more profusely sooner, but are more likely to be damaged by rust and powdery mildew. Both pathogens enjoy warmth. If planted a bit later, Snapdragons are somewhat safer from disease, but need a bit more time to put on a good show during cool weather.
Their conical floral spikes start blooming at the base and continue blooming upward. Once the lower flowers have fallen off, leaving only a few awkward flowers on top, deteriorating spikes should be pruned away to promote continued bloom.
Many varieties of snapdragon are available. The tallest ‘cut flower’ varieties can get almost as tall as three feet and about half as wide! Smaller varieties that get about six inches tall and wide are used for edging and bedding. Flowers can be single, double, ‘bell-shaped’, and even ‘double bell-shaped’. There are many colors to choose from.
Tony Tomeo is a consulting horticulturist and arborist for New Image Landscape of Fremont. His radio broadcast, “New Image Garden Report,” can be heard at 8:10am Fridays on KSCO, 1080 AM of Santa Cruz. Reach him at (888) 226-9191 or tt****@***************pe.com.
