Summer snapdragon 'Purple Stripe'

Angelonia angustifolia

How to grow Summer snapdragon 'Purple Stripe'

  • Full Sun

  • Medium

In temperate areas (outside of zones 9-11), it can be grown as an annual or in a container to be brought indoors in colder zones.4

Angelonia should have regular watering for best performance, but established plantings are moderately drought tolerant. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings4. Propagate by tip cuttings, division of the root mass, or collected seed. For tip cuttings, use a rooting hormone, bottom heat and high relative humidity. Start cuttings about 6 weeks before the first fall frost. They should be well-rooted within 2 to 3 weeks. Do not overwater, as it is quite drought-tolerant – allow the soil to dry out between waterings4.

Root divisions may be made in late summer by simply digging and cutting apart the root mass. These clumps of roots can be potted into 1-gallon containers and over-wintered indoors for replanting in the garden after the last spring frost. Be sure to keep plants in the sunniest and warmest area indoors. Once flowering has ceased, cut the plants back by one half, and allow the soil to dry briefly between waterings during the winter.

For container growing, use at least a 3-gallon (ie, 10 inch/25 cm/10 litre) pot, with good drainage holes and stone chips at the bottom.

A full sun position will ensure your plant thrives and remember to water moderately. Purple Stripe is generally regarded as a half hardy plant, so remember to protect this plant from frosts and low temperatures.

Growing Purple Stripe from seed

These seeds need light to germinate, and take 7 to 14 days for seedlings to appear. For a head start, sow seed indoors at 70-75 F (21-24 C), 6-8 weeks before the last expected spring frost. Only low light is required for seed germination, but once the seedlings are up, they need a high light level in order to not become leggy.

By our calculations, you should look at sowing Purple Stripe about 105 days before your last frost date.

Transplanting Purple Stripe

Propagate angelonia from tip cuttings, by division of the root mass, or by seed. Takes about 4 weeks to root from cuttings.

Plant out rooted cuttings at 6-18 weeks. 1 cutting for small size pots (4"-6"/10cm-15cm), 2-3 cuttings for big size pots (8"-10"/20cm-25cm).

May require a total of 13 to 14 weeks from sowing from seed, before the first flowers can be expected. Pinching back the seedlings will help improve plant compactness and branching. Seedlings should be fertilized with a liquid fertilizer2 .

Purple Stripe is half hardy, so ensure you wait until all danger of frost has passed in your area before considering planting outside.

Harvesting Purple Stripe

Summer snapdragon Purple Stripe Etymology

Angustifolius is Latin for "thin"or “narrow”.1

Purple Stripe folklore & trivia

There are about 30 species of Angelonia native to the tropical and subtropical New World, but most are not well known in cultivation4.

Footnotes