Snapdragons..

I sometimes used these as bedding, but recently there is this 2 year old one that is developing a shrub habit, - I've seen snapdragons grow fairly big, but not this big, it's getting a little silly.. I though the plant would die back this winter but it just isn't - it now has a wooden stem and had many side shoots. I'd say it was about 3 feet tall, and fanning out, certainly not your normal snapdragon habit.

Has anyone else seen this before on a snapdragon?

 

Yes, though perhaps not quite as magnificently as you describe -sounds great. They are short-lived perennials in habit and an over-wintered one should have a decent root system enabling it to flower madly for several months this spring. So look after it! In fact, get some cuttings as well. I find mine can go a bit woody and they often flop over,producing all their side shoots from th top of the lying -down stem. But after a bit of a tidy up they are a handy addition to the spring garden scene.

They're a bit out of fashion, but I think they are really good plants, easy to grow, with fantastic colours.

 

Ill take a photo tomorrow, or maybe tonight, if I can get the flash working fine on the camera.

At the moment it's in a little space competition with a Eurphorbia mellifera, so I was going to move it, but perhaps that's not a good idea.

In fact I'll go and take a photo now.

 

Here's some shots of the plant.

 

i like them to madahhila, i have to admit though i let them self seed rather than take cuttings, they always surprise me with being different colours that way. i have never had one over winter that big though.

 

Hi Stephenprudence,
on the web it says there are some perennial forms. keep us posted on that ,I am curious whether it will get nicely over the summer

I chucked most of mine(biennals??) out last autumn because they never survived the hard winters the last 2 years - and now we had a very snapdragonfriendly winter. So the leftover ones will make nice little bushes like yours..

Just look out for snapdrogon rust (fungus)! Will give very visible rusty spots on the leaves underside. I always bin infested plants.

 

You've got a couple of choices with yours - you could just snip off all the old seed pods and anything dead-looking or damaged and see how tidy it is then. If you do that it could be flowering within a few weeks. Or you could take it right down to the very fresh-looking new growth right at the bottom. A bit more drastic but would completely rejuvenate the plant if you feel it's needed. Would delay flowering, though.