How To Grow Antirrinum, Or Snapdragon

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Features of culture

Snapdragon, or antirrinum, refers to those flowers that you simply cannot find on an ordinary plot. And this is very surprising, because the choice of varieties of this culture is quite extensive, the color of the petals is also abundant in variety. Calling this plant especially demanding or capricious will also not turn your tongue.

However, there is still one nuance here. If you once made up your mind and planted a snapdragon in your garden, and then for some reason forgot about it for a couple of years, then it will not be quite easy to get rid of the widespread culture. And not because this plant will litter your site, but because of its beauty and charm, which is simply impossible not to succumb to.

Snapdragon, like a selfless worker, blossoming at the beginning of summer, pleases our eyes until late autumn.

The color of its flowers is sprayed into dozens of shades, they can be in a new way snow-white or the familiar sunny yellow, atypical for this culture, bright orange, bronze-brown, salmon and quite amazing light pink, bright red, purple, gray and even crimson. The color of the flowers of the modern snapdragon is so varied and bizarre that it seems as if this flower came to us from another planet. Each of his plants is like a unique masterpiece of an invisible master. And now any florist can find himself and the color and size of the snapdragon to his taste and mood.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

The undoubted advantage of snapdragon is that it is a typical perennial. It does not need to be sown every year, because after the vegetative part dies under the influence of the first frosts, the underground part will continue to live and wait for the arrival of spring to again delight you with its revival and lush flowering.

But let's digress from the hot summer, where the wonderful snapdragon reigns, and plunge into history. Where did this marvelous plant come from? It turns out that snapdragon, or antirrinum, is an overseas guest who sailed to us from the Mediterranean on merchant ships as an outlandish and previously unknown plant. Its name comes from the Greek words "anti" - similar and "rhinos" - nose, which is explained by the shape of its flower, somewhat reminiscent of a nose.

In Russian, its name is more poetic - snapdragon, because the flowers of this plant are large, irregular, double-lipped, pubescent outside. If you look closely, they resemble a gaping lion's mouth. I remember that in childhood, having plucked such a flower from a school flower bed, we carefully pressed its lower part with our fingers, and this “mouth” opened wide. In nature, there are a fairly large number of species of snapdragons, but only antirrhinum majus (Antirrhinum majus) was the only one that was introduced into culture, and only he became the founding species of a whole galaxy of amazing varieties.

Antirrinum will not test your patience while waiting for the appearance of its flowers, the first of which will bloom in the first year. If you take good care of it, then the snapdragon will give you fully developed seeds, sowing which, you will receive new plants of this culture.

Gradually growing, the snapdragon will form a lush and branched bush, which will be completely covered with small leaves. And this plant will be crowned with spike-shaped inflorescences bearing many small flowers.

Snapdragon agrotechnology

Snapdragon prefers well-lit areas, but it's not hard to guess about this: you just have to look at its flowers once - they are always directed towards the sun and seem to be drawn to it.

And in shaded conditions, even if the soils are rich in fertility and drainage necessary for the snapdragon, the plants will look depressed, flowering will be less lush and less long. In addition to sadness and longing for the bright sun, snapdragons can indulge in sadness for moisture. However, one should not overdo it here, because he can show fear of water. Therefore, you should not over-flood the plants, and water them only when the soil begins to dry out.

It is not worth delaying watering, unfortunately, the snapdragon may not endure too hot periods of the year. Watering is strictly necessary, however, in order not to shock the plants, they should be watered only in the evening hours, and only warm water should be used for watering, which must be poured only at the root.

Snapdragon, in conditions of sufficient moisture and heat, will actively grow and bloom very luxuriantly, and if you still regularly remove all faded inflorescences, you can thereby improve its decorative appearance by making the bush more neat.

By the way, since we have touched on flowering, even though its period cannot be called so short, it can be extended even more. To do this, you should periodically revise the plants and remove the seed bolls that begin to form. This will give an impetus to the plant to form new flowers. As a result, you can stretch flowering until the onset of the calendar winter.

Notice board

Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

Beautiful varieties of snapdragons

And now a little about the varieties of antirrinum. As noted above, breeders did not hesitate in their work with this crop. They have created a large number of snapdragon cultivars, each of which is unique in its own way. First of all, this is due to the color of flowers peculiar only to him. Such famous varieties as Brilliantroza, Defiance, Vulcan, Red Chief can be called real masterpieces or works of art, the low and stunningly beautiful Tom-Tumb variety, whose height is no more than 10 cm, is unique.

All these varieties will successfully survive even the harsh Russian winter, but in this case they must be hidden under a small shelter, built from lutrasil or spruce branches. In warmer regions, a small layer of fluffy snow is enough for shelter.

Snapdragon is also good because it can bloom almost all year round, it has a very short period of biological dormancy, and the rest of the time the culture is in forced rest. Thanks to this, an aesthetically pleasing flower can also bring quite tangible profits if you build a greenhouse and start up the plants for distillation, having received flowers in the middle of winter.

Such bouquets are like the sun in the palm of your hand when a blizzard is sweeping outside the window, and the temperature breaks records. They can be in high demand, and they will cost a lot, because the inflorescences live in a vase with a daily renewal of water and a cut for up to a month.

In winter, such a marvelous bouquet will illuminate the air of your room and color it in juicy, summer tones, while filling it with the subtle, light and completely unobtrusive scent of summer, which absolutely everyone will like and certainly will not cause unpleasant emotions even for the most fastidious person.

Dwarf snapdragons, such as the Hobbit or Floral, are fine for potting. Their multi-colored lively bouquets will gracefully emphasize the interior of your room and decorate it with lively tones.

With regard to reproduction, both species and varieties of snapdragons work very well when sowing seeds in small boxes. You can also use the method of grafting, which is familiar to many, but for this it will be necessary to build some kind of a greenhouse: knock down a wooden box from the planks, fill it with nutritious soil, cover it with a film and plant the cuttings there. If you keep the soil moist, then very soon roots will appear on the cuttings, and already independent plants can be planted in a new place.

Irina Guryeva

Junior Researcher, Berry Crops Department, VNIIS im. I. V. Michurina