TOADFLAX

Brightly colored flowers resemble small, spurred snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus). Easy to grow; thrive in light or sandy soil. Look best when planted in masses, as individual plants are rather wispy. Toadflaxes are not usually browsed by deer.

linaria hybrids

• Annuals.
• The Fantasy series produces compact plants to 1 feet high, 68 inches wide, with very narrow, bluish green leaves.
• Clusters of - to 1 inches flowers appear in spring and summer, come in blue with yellow throat, magenta, pink, yellow, and white.
• Enchantment has very fragrant magenta-and-gold flowers on plants to 16 inches high.

baby snapdragon, toadflax

linaria maroccana

• Annual.
• From Morocco.
• To 12 feet high, 6 inches wide.
• Light green, narrow leaves to 1 inches long.
• Summer flowers to inches long, in rose, pink, mauve, chamois, blue, violet, purple, or a red-and-gold combination; all are blotched with a different shade on the lip.
• Spur is longer than flower.
• Fairy Bouquet strain is only 9 inches tall and has larger flowers in pastel colors.
• Northern Lights strain features shades of red, orange, and yellow, as well as bicolors.

Seed baby snapdragon in quantity for a show. It performs best during cool weather. Where winters are cold, sow in early spring after danger of frost is past, then again in late summer; in mild-winter areas, sow in late summer for fall bloom, then again in autumn for winter flowers.

purple toadflax

linaria purpurea

• Perennial.
• From southern Europe.
• Narrow, bushy, erect plant to 24 feet tall, 10 inches wide.
• Blue-green, very narrow leaves; violet-blue, inches summer flowers.
• Canon Went is a pink form.
• Short lived in hot, humid regions, but volunteer seedlings ensure a continuing supply.

linaria reticulata

• Annual.
• From Portugal and North Africa.
• To 24 feet tall, 10 inches wide, with very narrow, bluish green leaves and showers of small purple-and-orange flowers in late spring and summer.
• Flamenco (11 feet high) has yellow flowers with a conspicuous maroon blotch.
• Flaming Passion (16 inches high, 8 inches wide) has red flowers with yellow centers.

common toadflax, butter-and-eggs

linaria vulgaris

• Perennial.
• From Europe and Asia; naturalized in North America.
• Stiffly erect habit to 13 feet high, 1 feet wide.
• Narrow, pale green leaves to 2 inches long; pale yellow blossoms to 1 inches wide from spring into fall.
• Invasive, weedy plant; unleash it in a cottage garden, where you are more likely to appreciate its propensity to spread by rhizomes and self-sow.