Flower · Plantaginaceae
When to sow snapdragons
Technically a short-lived perennial, grown as an annual almost everywhere, and the flower most children learn to make talk. The tall cutting varieties reach a metre and are a different plant altogether from the bedding dwarfs.
Start seed indoors
10 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Plant out
2 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
90-120
From planting out to a first picking.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make snapdragons plantable anywhere.
- Start seed indoors 10 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant out 2 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect 90–120 days to maturity, counted from planting out.
- Hardy in USDA zones 5a–11a.
Getting the timing right
Start indoors ten weeks before the last frost - the seed is dust-fine and needs light, so press it onto the surface rather than covering it. Plant out two weeks before the last frost, because a light frost makes the plants branch rather than harming them. Pinch the tips at 15cm for more stems.
Frost tolerance
Hardy to about -8C once established and often survives a mild winter to flower again, especially in zone 8 and warmer where autumn planting gives spring flowers. Rust is a bigger risk than cold in damp climates.
Classified as hardy, with damage expected below -8°C (17.6°F)17.6°F (-8°C).