Toadflax (Baby Snapdragon, Spurred Snapdragon)
Linaria maroccana. SCROPHULARIACEAE.
Planting and Growing Toadflax
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow toadflax in the accompanying table’s tabs:
-
-
- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of toadflax
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for toadflax
- Season of bloom and planting time for toadflax
- When, how deep, and where to plant toadflax
- How to plant toadflax
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of toadflax
- Landscape and container uses of toadflax
- Comments about toadflax and its features
-
Growing Toadflax
A few cultivars of erect, narrow annual herbs, 18–24 in. (45–60 cm) tall and 6–8 in. (15–20 cm) wide. Whorled, smooth, light to yellow green, lance-shaped, narrow leaves, to 1 in. (25 mm) long.
Common cultivars include Linaria maroccana ‘Fairy Bouquet’, ‘Fairy Lights Mixed’, Fantasy’, ‘Gemstones’, and ‘Northern Lights’.
Purple Toadflax, Linaria purpurea, and Purplenet Toadflax, Linaria reticulata, are closely related species with similar care needs.
Dwarf cultivars available.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many showy, gold, pink, purple, red, tan, violet, multicolored, snapdragon-like, spurred flowers, to 1-1/2-in. (38-mm) wide, in spiking, often triplet clusters, in summer, zones 3–7; late winter–early spring, zones 8–10.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 3–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH
Where and How to Plant
Spring, zones 3–7; autumn, zones 8–10, in full to filtered sun, 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist until established. Drought tolerant. Fertilize every 2 months. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for borders, containers, massed plantings in cottage, meadow, rock gardens. Pest and disease resistant.