This week… Antirrhinums
ANTIRRHINUMS are short-lived perennial plants, usually grown each year from seed. They are also called snapdragons, or sometimes dragon flowers, because as you gently squeeze the sides of the two-lipped flowers, the face opens like a dragon opening its mouth. They are also called ‘bunny rabbit plants’ because the flower is said to look like a rabbit’s head.
The large and colourful two-lipped flowers open in late spring and summer, and are carried on plants that vary from small, twiggy and bushy edging plants to tall and upright cut flowers. A few varieties have open, trumpet-shaped flowers, an increasing number are well scented, some have partially double flowers (with extra petals) and a few varieties also have crimson or variegated leaves.
Snapdragons come in a wide variety of colours, though not including blue, and are used in the garden in rock gardens and
