You should be pinching off the old long stems and allowing the new little ones to bloom.
Linda C

Well it's a good thing I did spend some time with my snapdragons- there was a huge caterpillar on one of them! I did cut off the main stalks and realized that it looked like there were little fruits growing where the flowers once were- looked like little green garbonza beans! So maybe the plants can now put some energy elsewhere.

Thanks,
Anne

LOL! The green garbonzo beans were seeds....cut the whole stalk off and the energy will go to producing new ones.
The way to tell seed farbonzo beans from bud garbonzo beans is the seeds have a little thread coming out of the middle of the bean....
Linda C

So could I have planted the little seeds and would they grow?

You need to wait until the "garbonzo beans" turn brown then break them open and sprinkle the pepper inside on the ground....
And amazingly enough, you will get snap dragon plants not hummus!
But the plants will probably not be exactaly like the parents.
Linda C

You need to wait until the "garbonzo beans" turn brown then break them open and sprinkle the pepper inside on the ground....
And amazingly enough, you will get snap dragon plants not hummus!
But the plants will probably not be exactly like the parents.
Linda C

You said that. ;o)

Al

wise guy LOL Love your posts

How come I can post and have it generate a message that I already posted to that thread....and then I get a double post.....when I wasn't even trying!
Plus that....I misspelled exactly!....and am wondering if I am also mispelling mispelled???
Linda C

How come I can post and have it generate a message that I already posted to that thread.... Because you're good?color> and then I get a double post..... Double good?color> when I wasn't even trying! I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if you were trying. ;o)color>
Plus that....I misspelled exactly!....and am wondering if I am also mispelling mispelled??? Yup - busted back to good.color>

Al

And....Al....you are baaaaaaaad!!!! LOL!
Linda C...but posting just once!

What do I do with the little thread that is at the end of the snapdragon bud?

If it has that little thread...it's not a bud but a seed pod...or garbonzo bean....depending on how you look at it.
Cut the whole stalk off.
Linda C

Thanks lindac!So should I save the stalk or do I save it only if I want to plant more seeds?

eddie

Can't think of why to save the stalk....unless you want to sprinkles eeds for next year....but there will be more later.
Linda C

Re trailing snapdragons. Do they do well as a ground cover or are they meant for pots?

Mum fell in love with a hanging basket of trailing snapdragons. It was beautiful! Until the hot July weather began. I finally sought advice on the web and learned what was up, but I delayed (about three weeks) cutting back until I could harvest a fair amount of seed pods for a flower bed. I just hope we get a fall bloom and that we don't have an early winter.

Check with your local garden centre to see if they can be treated as a 'temperennial' if you bring it under cover for winter. (Good for two or more seasons but won't be too flash the second time around.)

The worst thing about hanging baskets is the way they run out of food part way through the season unless you consciously add some slow release, or do weekly feeds (liquid fertiliser.) And add some extra potting mix as a topdressing to replace what gets washed out.

As far as I know you have at least six weeks of good growing weather still ahead so you could get another flush of flowers in that time - with feeding and watering.

I tried the trailing snapdragons. I think I'd be more inclined to go for something more vigorous if I wanted serious ground cover, though they are very attractive plants.

My snapdragons just finished blooming in Tyler,Tx. We now have high heat and no rain. Can they be transplanted and live or should i just cut them down to about 3 inches? I am going to plant periwinkle in spots between them now.

I think in tyler....they may act like a perennial. Keep them wet enough to keep them alive, cut them back, not down and you should see more flowers when it cools off.
Linda c