HARDY SNAPDRAGONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 868, 11 January 1930, Page 26

HARDY SNAPDRAGONS

(ANTIRRHINUMS) The modern varieties of antirrhinums or snapdragons are increasing in popularity every season. Being capable of resisting drought to a large extent, they have proved very suitable for autumn gardens. The number of varieties now obtainable, the ease with which they can be grown, and their suitability for use both for garden purposes and indoor decoration, entitle them to rank among the best of flowering plants. While the plants are perennial in character, it has been proved that the best method of growing them is from seed sown each season, discarding the plants after they have finished flowering. if it is desired, however, to propagate a particular variety, which may not reproduce itself true from seed, it may be increased by taking slips of the young growth in autumn, potting them firmly in fine sand, and keeping the pots in a cool

frame until spring, when they should be rooted, and fit to plant out. FROM SEED Seed sown in February will produce plants which will bloom the following July and August, and fine spikes of bloom may be expected from them. Seed sown in September produces plants that will bloom during the following summer and autumn. By a succession of sowings, antirrhinums can be had in bloom for the greater part of the year. Antirrhinums are not overfastidious as regards soil, but it should be gritty, and well drained, especially when the plants have to stand the winter. Heavy soils should have plenty of sand, and a good proportion of lime mixed with them, while in a dry condition, to get the best results. Strong manures are apt to cause a rank growth of foliage, and coarse sappy flower stems which do not flower freely. VARIETIES Antirrhinums are now classified into several sections, according to their habit of growth and size of flower. Conditions of cultivation, however, have much to do with their habit of growth. For instance, the tallgrowing varieties are listed to grow two to three feet high, but in dry seasons they do not grow nearly so tall, and can be used in'the same way as the semi-dwarf or intermediate kinds, which grow up to IS inches high. The dwarf or intermediate kinds, if kept through the winter, usually grow much taller than they do when grown from spring-sown seed.