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Scientific: Antirrhinum majus
Common: snapdragon
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Origin: Temperate areas of Europe

Pronounciation: An-tir-RHI-num MAY-jus

Hardiness zones
Sunset
All
USDA All

Landscape Use: Bedding plant, winter garden color, cut flowers, formal flower borders from small to large; use for a massive flowering effect during cool season.

Form & Character: Delicate, formal, decidedly European or 'Old World' in character.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, short-lived herbaceous perennial cultivated as a winter annual in Phoenix. Snap dragon's growth habit very much depends on cultivar vigor, ranging in height from a short 6 inches (dwarf and highly branched) to a tall 3 feet (singular stemmed and sharply upright).

Foliage/texture: Medium green, simple, entire, sessile, elliptical to oval rapering to a blunt tip, 1- to 2-inches long; medium texture.

Flowers & fruits: Flowers with 5 lobes which are divided into unequal upper and lower 'jaws'. Give the snap dragon flower a slight pinch at each side and it will make the 'dragon open its mouth'. Flower colors are many ranging from white, yellow, orange, salmon, pink, red, to burgundy. Multicolored cultivars too! Snap dragon flowers are pollinated by bees. Fruits are green, oblong with single hair at end (not ornamental).

Seasonal color: Winter and early Spring in Phoenix. Otherwise varies with geographical location.

Temperature: Tolerates light frost, grows best in cardinal temperature range of 35o to 80oF, does NOT tolerate temperatures higher than 95oF.

Light: Partial to full sun

Soil: Light garden soil with ample organic matter, well drained.

Watering: Regular...and I do mean regular even during the winter time in Phoenix to keep soils evenly moist.

Pruning: None, except to remove individual spent flower stalks (that are beginning to develop fruits) to promote continued flowering for as long as the cool weather will cooperate.

Propagation: Seed will germinate in 7 to 14 days when soil temperatures are between 65o and 70oF. Press seed into soil, do not cover. If plants are allowed to fully fruit to maturity, then snap dragon will occasionally reseed during the ensuing early winter months of the following cool season.

Disease and pests: Foliar and stem rust, nematodes, Verticillium wilt, Rhizoctonia fungus.

Additional comments: Snapdragons are a popular, cool-season bedding plant in Phoenix. Its local popularity has remained surprisingly resiliant over time. Snapdragon has been hybridized for a long time, and the selection of flower colors and plant forms is very large. There are literally hundreds of named cultivated varieties that are generally grouped by height and flower color and mew cultivars are available yearly. Some modern varieties have open-faced, 'azalea-like' double flowers. There is also variation in leaf coloring, one of the prettiest being 'Black Prince', with purple leaves and deep crimson flowers. Taller forms produce valuable cut flowers such as this image of showing 'snaps' for sale in a Dublin, Ireland flower market. However, dwarf forms are best for landscape use in mass.