I'd like to save Snapdragon 'Rocket Red' to grow next year

Hi,
I have mostly perennials that I suppliment with annuals. Usually, I just buy new, but after growing Snapdragons for the first time this year I'd love to save them somehow. I'm growing 'Rocket Red'.

I bought a 6-pack in spring, but didn't get around to planting them for a while. By the time I did, they were pretty sad looking so I cut them back about half way. They're also in part shade since most of my garden is shady. They started blooming in early August and look beautiful. Each day they get more buds.

I've read that the 'Rocket' series get tall and leggy, but these have not (maybe because I had to cut them back when I planted them).

I really love these and would like to grow them again next year.

Is there any way these can be saved for next spring...either cuttings, seeds, root cuttings or even whole plants tucked away in a garage? I've read seeds may not grow true. I live in Zone 5a.

Are they a good candidate for Winter Sowing? It's warmer up near the back of my house since we get full sun there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not a newbie gardener, but kind of a newbie at saving plants over winter. I've saved cutings of Coleus and assorted house plants with soft stems and even let some seeds dry on a few perennials and scattered them, but that's all.

Thank You in advance for any help!!

Oops...I wanted to also post a pic of some buds, but hit the wrong button.

Here are the buds.

Hi there,
I was given Snapdragon seeds by a friend which were planted and are now growing well and should flower within a few weeks (last month of Winter here).

If Rocket Red is a hybrid plant it may not grow true from gathered seeds. But best to try and see what eventuates.

My friend told me her seeds were well worth planting as they were very 'flash'..... I will be able to tell if that is true when they show their blooms.

I purchased a pack of 6 plants last summer and they came up and flowered well but I found they became diseased pretty quick so I did not save any of those seeds.

Good luck and hope you get the info you need.

Your buds and plant look very healthy, you will have to post a pic when the buds open.
If you Gogle 'Antirinum propogation' you will get lots of sites and surely on of them will answer all your questions.

I found the info below on Garden Guide.com site about propogating Snapdragons. I never knew one could do cuttings, it is always good to learn something new.

"Grow new snapdragon plants through propagation. Cut stem tips from healthy snapdragon plants in late spring and root them easily in potting soil. Within about one month, you will have more snapdragons to add to your flower garden"

Hi Nelsonian,
Thanks so much for your help!! I really appreciate that you took time to do some research for me.

I really like these plants and I think I'll probably try a few different ways to save them just to see which works best. I figure the worst that could happen is they won't survive for next year and the best is that I'll end up with bunches of healthy plants. I'd be happy with something in between.

I may try some seeds and see what I come up with even if they don't grow true. I'll also try taking some stem cuttings when they're done blooming since they're beautiful right now and I don't want to ruin that. Lastly, I'm going to try potting up the whole plants at the end of the season and putting them someplace that doesn't freeze, like the garage. I've read in one of the forums I visit that Snapdragons are pretty hardy and can survive with a bit of protection, so it's possible that might work.

I haven't taken any more pictures, but I'll try to post some as the blooms fill out more. If my experiment works, I'll post my results. That way you (and anyone else that's interested) can learn from my experiments.

Thanks again and have a Super Day!!

Hi, nutsaboutnature,

" I've read seeds may not grow true. I live in Zone 5a."

The seeds of F1 hybrids don't "come true", but as far as I can tell, Red Rocket snapdragon is not an F1 hybrid. Park Seeds lists it as a "hybrid", but seed companies frequently list open pollinated seeds as "hybrid" if, at some time during the development of the cultivar, hybridization was done. If the Rocket series of snapdragons were actually F1 hybrids, their seeds would be much more expensive.

Feel free to save seeds from your Rocket series snapdragons with the expectation that they will come reasonably true. There is always some natural variation in seed grown plants, so if you save seeds only from your best examples of Red Rocket, you could actually improve the breed a little.

ZM

Thanks for the info, Zen_Man!! That's really interesting. I would not have known how to tell on my own whether or not it's a hybrid.

I still think it would be fun to try a little bit of several ways and see what I end up with. To some it may seem a waste since they didn't cost very much, but after starting out looking so sad, then turning into such healthy, beautiful plants, I feel they're definitely worth trying to save.

I'll have to let you guys know how it works out.

Thanks again! Have a great one!!

I would definitely try keeping the actual plant in a pot in the garage. I never knew snapdragons are perennial until I moved to Seattle. I have found that unless we have a severe winter they live here like a subshrub, and get a woody base, then sprout from it in the spring. If the woody part freezes they come up from the ground. The ground rarely freezes here. Sometimes in the fall they get rust, but it is always gone in the spring on the new growth and I have never put any fungicide on them.. Maybe you could turn it into a conversation piece in a pot, or a bonsai. I have had red and yellow "Rocket" series survive in my planters for 3 years. I finally ripped them out this year because they were too tall and were taking over.
You might try cuttings too. Once I picked a few Tidal Wave Petunia flowers and put them in a cup on a south facing windowsill in November, the night before the first real freeze. They took root and grew over the winter, so I planted it back in the same planter in the spring!
HAVE FUN and report back how things go this winter.

mimilakestevens ~ Thanks so much for your input and encouragement!! I figure what have I got to lose?

I know about the weather in Seattle since I spent the early part of my life in California, first South, then eventially up near the Oregon border. I've had many friends in and around Seattle. You're lucky, it's a beautiful area!

I wasn't aware that Snapdragons could turn into a semi-shrub. Tha't amazing! Some members in another forum I frequent have mentioned that it will "push" zone limits if it's protected, though my zone would be too much of a stretch.

Your idea of bringing one indoors as a houseplant is interesting. Maybe I'll try that as well. I'm thinking about trying to save some other annuals while I'm at it with the Snapdragons.

I'll post my results...good or bad... next spring.

Thanks again!!!

Here are a couple of recent pics. Not the greatest shots, but they do show how the plants filled out after I thought they weren't even going to make it.

I have had the red snaps come back for 4 years now. It snows here every winter, but the ground rarely freezes.

I've heard they're pretty hardy. I bet yours are lovely! Our ground does freeze, plus we also have freeze/thaw periods that can be tough on plants.

In addition to the other methods I plan to try, I may transplant one plant (or use cuttings or seeds) into a bed at the back of our house that tends to stay warmer...just to see what happens. Many plants in that bed come up and bloom earlier in Spring and the snow melts quicker as well.

Thanks for the input!!

OK, some winters, the ground does freeze, and we get the freeze/thaw cycles as well...last year it was a warm winter. A couple of years ago it was like a hurricane with blowing snow and did damage everywhere. Part of our roof over the back porch was taken out by an oak limb.

Oh my goodness! That sounds awful. Hopefully no one was hurt.

Whether cycles seem to be getting odder every year. When I first moved to Illinois, it was common to have long periods of sub-zero temps and much of the winter was below freezing. Now we may go long periods above freezing and sub-zero rarely happens. Even so, our ground still freezes every winter. Sometimes it just happens later in the season.

I agree with you. When I first moved to this county, about 25 years ago, the snow stayed on the ground for months at a time. I remember it being 40° for a month for quite some time. Now it (usually) melts in a day or two, then we have a freeze. The plants do not liked to be jerked around so much. We can "layer" our clothing as we wish....

No, no one was hurt. I was in my bed, trying to sleep while all this noise was going on. It sounded like the roof was going to cave in, but it only affected the back porch. One small corner...

Usually, here, the snow just falls, not blowing like that...

Sounds like "climate change" to me.

ZM

Evelyn, I can't imagine how you stayed in bed through that. I would have been freaking.

Zen_Man, I would definitely agree with you.

We had some very heavy rains early in the week that knocked many of the petals off my Snapdragons, revealing huge seed pods. Once I think they're totally done blooming I'll start some of my experiments to save them for next year.

In my garden they volunteer- in August/September I am weeding out self-sown seedlings, often leave a few for next year. In a hard winter they are killed off, but most years they grow a bit through the winter. It's fun to see the colors that come up.

That sounds cool! Like a new surprise every year. That would be fun.

Nutsaboutnature, is the purple in your pictures another plant in the background, or the back sides of the snapdragon flowers?

LAS14, the buds on these Snapdragons look purple when they're starting to open and also the undersides of the petals look purple. I love the blend of the two colors. When you look at them from a short distance away, they kind of look two-tone. Also, the tops of the petals look like velvet while the backs are shiny.