When Do Snapdragons Flower?

Blooming Season

• Snapdragons' bloom season extends from mid-spring, around May, to mid-autumn, around October, in the central United States. In milder climates, snapdragons may bloom into the winter. Snapdragons perform best in cool weather, and the hot weather of summer will cause their flowers to fade, even stop altogether. For this reason, when using snapdragons in your landscape, plant them to add color in the spring and fall, not the summer.

When to Plant

• For spring color, plant snapdragon transplants in your garden two to three weeks before the final frost date for your area. You can also plant snapdragons for fall color, putting transplants in the garden in late summer or early fall, as the weather begins to cool. You can also grow snapdragons from seed, planting the seed directly into your garden in late summer or early fall. If you live in a mild climate where late fall temperatures don't drop below 50 degrees at night, you will have snapdragons blooming in your garden for the holiday season. In other climates, these plants will blossom in time to brighten your garden for the following spring.

Reinvigorating for Fall

• If you've planted snapdragons for the spring and find your plants dispirited and without blooms during the summer, you can maintain the plants so that they bloom again when temperatures drop again in the fall. Prune back plants severely when hot weather arrives and flowers begin to fade. When the next set of buds becomes visible, provide fertilizer to encourage growth.

Preparing for Winter

• Snapdragons self-seed easily and vigorously, and with proper maintenance, you can enjoy snapdragons first thing the following spring with minimal special effort. When you trim your flowers back after the spring bloom period, leave one or two flowers and allow them to go to seed. Similar to seeding your garden at the end of summer, self-seeding gives you spring color at the earliest opportunity. When allowing plants to self-seed, however, be aware that self-seeded plants often don't resemble their parent plants. If you want a particular color or cultivar, don't let flowers go to seed. Instead, purchase the plants you want each spring.