Antirrhinum majus Dazzling Lips Yellow Eye

Antirrhinum majus Dazzling Lips® 'Yellow Eye' is a variety of early and particularly floriferous snapdragon, which produces large, fragrant flowers in a blend of orange, red, and yellow tones. A soft and warm color in this snapdragon with strong stems that works wonders in the garden as well as in a vase. In addition to its ornamental qualities, it is also a plant that is attractive to pollinators. It is a rather compact variety, well-perpetual, which also has a great effect in a large pot.

Known in gardens since 1583, Antirrhinum majus was the privileged host of monastery and curate gardens. This plant from the plantain family is native to the western Mediterranean basin, where it grows among rocks on the arid slopes of the Midi. In France, it is found as far as Lozère and Aveyron. There are even plants rooted in the mortar of old walls protecting the gardens. Contrary to popular belief, wild snapdragon species as well as certain varieties are perfectly perennial if provided with poor, sandy, rocky soil in full sun, sheltered from cold winds.

The Dazzling Lips 'Yellow Eye' snapdragon is a recent selection, part of a series of hybrids (the 'Dazzling Lips') selected for their early, perpetual flowering, large and fragrant flowers, carried by strong stems. It is more biennial than perennial, rarely living more than two years. In the year following planting, it forms a clump of approximately 50-60cm in height and 30-40cm in width. Its upright, sturdy stems are covered with opposite or alternate, lanceolate, entire, glabrous leaves of a beautiful deep green colour. These leaves will persist on the plant if the winter is mild. The flowering renews from May-June to September-October, in successive waves. 'Yellow Eye' offers solidly built spikes, bearing large flowers with tubular bases that flare into undulate lobes. The petals display various shades of orange, salmon, and soft yellow, with a pale yellow to white throat circled in red. They are highly visited by bumblebees and butterflies. Snapdragons easily self-seed in the garden, in light soil, but not always faithfully compared to the parent plant.

Snapdragons are part of our childhood memories. With their small velvety snouts that emit a fragrance when you bury your nose in the flowers, they are plants accessible to all gardeners, easy to install in borders, flower beds, or pots. In northerly regions such as the north of the Loire and in heavy soil, treat them as annuals, which matters little in view of their generosity. Large varieties such as Dazzling Lips 'Yellow Eye' are perfect for cut flowers, flowering pots, or "cottage gardens". For example, associate them with love-in-a-mist, perennial flax, and valerians (Centranthus ruber). Their flower spikes are well highlighted when emerging among bushy perennials like aster cordifolius or ground cover roses, cotton lavenders, 'Powis Castle' wormwoods... Once the plant is established and to prolong its flowering, you can regularly remove faded flowers.

The snapdragon gets its vernacular name from the particular shape of its flowers, which, when pinched, resemble mouths.