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Your potted snapdragon looks strong now, but winter is the test

Your deep pink plant is a snapdragon, and the pot is what makes overwintering difficult where you live. It can still flower well for a while, but the next step determines whether you treat it as a seasonal plant or try to keep it.

Photograph submitted by the reader

The flower in the photograph is a snapdragon, an Antirrhinum type. The dense pink flowers with their characteristic ‘mouths’ and narrow foliage fit well.

Being in a pot makes the big difference. In early September in Västernorrland, Sweden, such a plant often keeps flowering until the cold catches it, but roots in pots freeze much more readily than roots in the ground. Outdoor overwintering is therefore uncertain where you are, even though it looks healthy and vigorous now.

If you want to try keeping it

Let it keep flowering now, but bring the pot in before a hard frost. Keep it bright and cool, ideally frost-free rather than in a warm room. Remove spent flowers and water sparingly through winter so that the compost does not stay wet. If it becomes leggy or declines despite this, that is not unusual; snapdragons are often grown as seasonal bedding plants in this Swedish climate.

The easiest option is simply to enjoy the flowers now and treat it as a seasonal plant. If you want to try keeping it, the next important step is moving it somewhere frost-free before the first proper frosts.

Sources and images 1
  1. Original reader contribution ↗Reader question
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