SNAPDRAGON

Snapdragons, native to the Mediterranean region, are a particular favorite of children who like to pinch the tiny individual blossoms and make the "dragon mouth" open and close. Modern varieties provide large, blossom-laden flower heads, faintly fragrant, in a wide assortment of bright colors. The vertical flower spikes, opening gradually from the bottom to the top, are available in three heights: small varieties range from 6 to 9 inches; intermediates, 18 to 24 inches; and large types, as tall as 3 or 4 feet. A single snapdragon plant may produce seven or eight blossom spikes in the course of a summer. A strain with open-faced cup-shaped blossoms, typified by the variety called 'Bright Butterflies', comes in both single and double versions.

USES. The tall varieties are striking as cut flowers but when growing must be supported by stakes. The small plants excel in beds and at the front of borders. The most useful of all are the intermediates; they need no staking, yet are stately in the garden and have stems long enough for use as cut flowers. Gardeners used to be less than enthusiastic about snapdragons as cut flowers because blossoms tended to "shatter"--drop off shortly after being fertilized by bees. But plant breeders have developed shatterproof strains in lavishly petaled double blossoms as well as the conventional singles. Snapdragons flourish in well-fertilized soil and full sun.

HOW TO GROW:

Sow seeds indoors eight weeks before the last frost is due, moving seedlings outdoors as early as a planting bed can be spaded and raked. In Zones 8-10, seedlings started in a sheltered seedbed may be moved outdoors any time in the fall for winter and spring flowering. Seeds may also be sown outdoors, but the seed is so fine and the seedlings are so delicate that controlled growing conditions give better results. Plants should stand from 6 to 12 inches apart, depending on the ultimate size of the variety selected. Seedlings bought from a garden center, where they have been grown under the carefully controlled conditions only a florist's greenhouse can provide, will flower earlier than plants started at home from seeds. Whether starting from seeds or seedlings, choose varieties that are specifically marked rust resistant. When the plants are 2 to 4 inches tall, pinch off the stem tips if shorter but more abundant flower spikes are desired. Then, as the flowers mature, use them freely for bouquets; the cutting will force plants to produce additional stems that will bloom later in the season.