Pairing Snapdragons

In a romantic and sunny flowerbed

In a mass of romantic flowers, imagine a hedge of hornbeams as a backdrop. In the foreground, place the Antirrhinum ‘Fruit Salad Up Yellow’. To surround it, the shrubby wallflower Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ pairs well with Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii, and Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’. Complete the picture with Alchemilla, Phlomis russeliana, and Allium ‘Globemaster’. Why not add a Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’? This will create a vibrant and modern tableau, combining purple and mauve highlighted by varying shades of yellow.

Phlomis russeliana, hornbeam hedge, Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii, Allium ‘Globemaster’, Antirrhinum ‘Fruit Salad Up Yellow’ (photo Rudy Raes) and Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’

In a bed of shades of purple, blue, and white

Another idea for a border, create a harmony of purple with white Antirrhinum majus ‘Royal Bride’, planted next to Delphinium ‘Pacific Black Knight’ with sumptuous spikes of blue-violet flowers appearing in June and July, Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll White’ that bloom from June to August, and Ageratum houstonianum ‘Blue Mink’ which produce pastel blue flowers from June to September. Add some mountain cornflowers or Centaurea montana, which bloom from June to August. This lovely border of melliferous plants should be placed in full sun and is ready to welcome bees and butterflies.

Delphinium ‘Black Knight’, Ageratum ‘Blue Mink’, Centaurea montana and Antirrhinum majus ‘Royal Bride’

In a border

Dwarf varieties of snapdragon are ideal for creating colourful flowering borders for long months. Sow for example dwarf snapdragon seeds – Antirrhinum nanum ‘Frosted Flames’ which offers a festival of warm colours blending red, orange, and yellow, for a 45 cm high border flowering from June to October. You can pair these snapdragons with the long-flowering penstemon ‘Souvenir d’Adrien Régnier’ producing campanulate strawberry-pink flowers with red veins and a light throat. Soften the border with white flowers (for example, Zinnia ‘Zahara Double White’). To add a bit of rhythm to this floral mix, dwarf canna Canna (x) indica ‘Lucifer’ is quite suitable. This one does not exceed 60 cm in height at ripeness. Finally, plant some dwarf tufted grasses, such as the variety Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’ with a light appearance.

Another idea this time for a flowering border with softer hues, combine the snapdragon Antirrhinum majus ‘Lucky Lips’ with bicoloured flowers white with a pink or red heart with perennial flax – Linum perenne featuring lovely airy blue flowers that appear from June to September.

Canna indica ‘Lucifer‘, Antirrhinum ‘Frosted Flames’, Zinnia ‘Zahara Double White’, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’ and Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Souvenir d’Adrien Régnier’

In a cut flower garden

To enjoy beautiful, floriferous, and colourful snapdragons, sow large varieties such as the snapdragon Antirrhinum majus ‘Double Madame Butterfly Mixed’. At a height of 80 cm, these snapdragons produce large spikes of flowers in various colours from June to October. The stems are sturdy, and the double flowers resemble those of azaleas. With this seed mix, you will enjoy flowers in all colours: pink, yellow, red, mauve, white, orange, except blue. The lightly scented flowers are melliferous and attract pollinating insects.

You can fill your garden with cut flowers alongside other plants that thrive in the same conditions as snapdragons. Add for example some fringed tulips ‘Cummins’ that bloom in May and offer mauve flowers with unique dentate petals. Also consider large daisies and plant some Leucanthemum maximum ‘Etoile d’Anvers’ that produce white flowers with a yellow centre in June and July, then again in September.

Complete with other lovely flowers for bouquets like carnations. Try the Dianthus plumarius ‘Lily the Pink’ which produce fragrant bright pink flowers from June to August. Add some gypsophila ‘Rosenschleier’. This 50 cm plant forms clouds of small pink flowers from June to August, adding a lot of lightness to bouquets. You can also grow chrysanthemums like the garden chrysanthemum ‘Orchid Helen’ which produces candy-pink flowers from September to October.
Also consider planting bush roses in your garden, such as the rose ‘La Sauvagine Terre et Passion’, which produces pale pink roses with serrated edges and a slight fragrance from June to October. A lovely palette of flowers to create your own bouquets!

Discover more plants in our article on creating a cut flower garden.

Gypsophila ‘Rosenschleier’, Antirrhinum majus ‘Double Madame Butterfly Mixed’, Leucanthemum ‘Etoile d’Anvers’ (photo Carl Lewis), Chrysanthemum indicum ‘Orchid Helen’, Tulipa crispa ‘Cummins’ and Dianthus plumarius ‘Lily the Pink’

In a rockery or at the foot of a wall

To brighten up a rockery or a wall, snapdragons are an excellent choice. Sow for example the snapdragon Antirrhinum majus ‘Circus Clowns’ to achieve a multicoloured and fragrant flowering from June to October. Pair these snapdragons with garden valerian, which produces pink flowers from May to August, as well as stunningStipa barbata also known as “angel’s hair” and silver santolines which add a yellow touch during their flowering from June to August.

Antirrhinum majus ‘Circus Clowns’, Santolina chamaecyparissus, Stipa barbata and Centranthus ruber

In a pot or a hanging basket

For pot cultivation, use compact varieties like the snapdragon Antirrhinum majus ‘Fruit Salad Up Purple’, which reaches a height of 35 cm. It produces spikes of pink and white flowers from June to September. You can accompany it with petunias like the Petunia surfinia ‘Heavenly Blue’ that blooms from May to October. Complete this display that you can hang with silver baskets or Iberis sempervivens ‘Snowflake’ for a cloud of small white flowers from March to May.

Antirrhinum majus ‘Fruit Salad Up Purple’, Petunia surfinia ‘Heavenly Blue’ and Iberis sempervivens ‘Snowflake’

For further reading

• To learn all about the snapdragon, check out our comprehensive guide dedicated to this lovely plant, as well as our complete collection of snapdragons.
• To avoid any failures, we recommend planting appropriately; feel free to adopt our Plantfit web application!