The Chantilly Snapdragons and I got off to a bit of a rough start. I was excited because they sprouted beautifully this winter—I had nearly 100% germination. I pinched back the seedlings a few times during their early growth and plunked them in the garden in mid-May. That’s when the trouble started.
I guess I should’ve kept pinching because before I knew it they were flopping all over the place. Even when I staked some of them they continued to slip out of the plant supports and tip over to the ground. This was before they were even half their final height. During a mini-heat-wave in early July I got cranky and snipped them all to about 6 inches tall. A month later they finally recovered enough to stand tall on their own and start blooming.
Chantilly snapdragons have open, butterfly-type flowers and come in many shades including pink, white, salmon, orange, bronze, cream yellow and light salmon.
My favorite is ‘Chantilly Bronze’:
Chantilly snaps grow 36 to 40 inches tall and are loaded with blooms. The flowers supposedly last longer in a vase than other snapdragons, but I can’t verify that because I haven’t had the heart to cut any of my plants.
They really add a nice splash of color to the back of the border, and I will probably grow them again next year. However I’ll be doing a lot more pinching!