Visual reference time!
I collected seeds from all the snapdragons last year and put them in envelopes marked with their colours. It has mostly worked out, but I have got a few new variants (hybrids?) that I’m assuming have come about from cross-pollination – despite the poor showing of bees last year.
I’ve been left with a few variations on pink so have re-categorised them a little to Pink, Light Pink, Very Light Pink & Hot Pink. I’ve also got peach, yellow, white and burgundy. Where the pinks are fairly close, such as in this first image, I’ve labelled them as ‘pink’. Each plant has a plastic label (yes I re-use them) so I will know what seeds I’m harvesting. At least, that’s the idea.
They’ve all done brilliantly this year. I planted 75 and most of them have thrived and are now in a second flush. Hopefully we’ll be extending the border over the winter so I may sow them straight into the ground and hope for the best. At the very least I should have an inkling of which colours will appear where. It certainly worked this year as I have lots of variation in the borders.
So the below is mostly just a visual reference for me to know what they should look like.
Generally speaking I’m pretty pleased with the border this year. There were a lot of poppies which I’ll post about soon. I’ve had a bumper harvest on those, and managed to collect and dry out some pretty nice stems with pods. They’ve mostly died back now, but should hopefully reappear next spring.
Snapdragons are considered a bit of an ‘old lady plant’ or ‘cottage garden’ if you prefer. The thing is, I love them. The bees love them, and they are extremely good at standing up to Scottish weather. They give a welcome burst of cheerful colour and I’ve only had to support two plants. I’ve got quite a bit to do over winter, I want to divide all the heucheras, the hardy geranium and grow cuttings from the two rose bushes.
Bonus whippet photo for those interested!
