Will Snapdragon Flowers Survive a Freezing Drop to 25°F During Fall or Spring?

 Will Snapdragon Flowers Survive a Freezing Drop to 25°F During Fall or Spring? 

    This year I've really gained an interest in snapdragons as magical little cut flowers. They're very unique, beautiful flower spikes that are just a delight to grow (and super easy to grow, at that.) I originally planted some snapdragons in early spring, a mix of both established starts from the farm store and some I started myself.

    We are now heading into the frigid days of winter, with about a month of fall left. We just experienced the coldest drop of the year down to 26°F; but most flowers are known for dying back regardless of whether they are annuals or perennials. So, what happened to my snapdragons? Did they survive the frigid drop to 26°? 

Pink snapdragons with yellow throats in my flower garden blooming prolifically in Spring. 

How My Snapdragons Performed Ahead of This Freeze

    Snapdragons are known for being cool weather flowers, typically. I'm still not well versed in snapdragons, as there are four different classes (Winter, Early Spring, Summer, Early Fall) and there are multiple uses for snapdragons. There are even different flower types, including singles and doubles. Some don't perform well in hot weather at all, while others do perform better in hotter weather; some are shorter 4-6" border plants, while others produce tall 36" stems as cutting flowers. To complicate this further, my seasonal weather and climate is going to be vastly different from that of someone else's garden on average. All this to say: your snapdragons may perform differently than mine did due to variety and climate.

    The snapdragons that I grew this year were not big fans of the hot, humid, steamy weather we had. Instead, they did exceptionally well early in the season while it was cooler (March, April, and May) but they died back during the summer. When they died back, I had a really hard time locating the plants. They stopped growing, they stopped flowering, and I do believe that they lost a lot of leaves. As the cooler nights of fall fell upon us, there was evidence of the dormant stems coming back to life. The snapdragons began to put on new growth and new buds. I also believe I may have some self-sown seedlings that have appeared, but I'm not completely sure yet (I may not find out, as they likely won't flower ahead of a deep freeze.)

This is what my snapdragons look like after both a summer die back and regrowth in the fall. You can see the spent flower spike, bare leaf attachments, and blackened foliage- then lots of fresh, young, green, healthy growth reemerging from the primary stem.

I believe these are possibly self-sown snapdragon seedlings. Once the warmer weather returns, I'll have to investigate further to see. Snapdragons like to be stratified, but if there are enough dropped seeds, it's not unlikely for some of those to germinate anyways!  

How My Cool Weather Snapdragons Fared with Lows in the 20's

    With the significant drop in temperatures for the first time this year, I wanted to ensure that I document how some of these cooler weather plants fared. I know that snapdragons are cool weather flowers, but just how cold can they tolerate? 

    So far they have absolutely survived the dip to 26°F, and I have no doubt that 25°F would be a breeze for them as well. Some petals seem like they may be a little off, perhaps damaged by the cool weather, but they have not wilted as most flowers generally do when they sustain frost damage. I don't see any damage to the foliage, I do have a plant that has some damage which you may see in the form of white marks on the foliage, but that damage is not due to the cold weather. I won't get an opportunity to re-evaluate the condition of the petals, as we drop further tonight; this freeze may be the final blow. If not, I expect substantial cold damage to the plants.

Snapdragon flowers after surviving a freeze of 26 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Even the seed pods and the flower buds on this snapdragon look healthy and unphased after surviving temperatures in the 20's (26 degrees Fahrenheit.)

    We have another drop of 19°F coming, and I really don't think that the snapdragons will make it through. These snapdragons are uncovered and are exposed to both wind and frost. There is nothing holding in heat. There isn't a blanket of snow for insulation, either. With protection, I'm willing to bet they would survive, but I am not going to protect these plants. Instead, they will provide me with valuable insight into how cold-hardy these flowers truly are. We love a good experiment (or observation, in this case) around here!

This foliage doesn't show any signs of freeze damage. It looks like snapdragon flowers can survive temperatures in the mid 20's just fine!

Why It's Important to Observe Precise Temperatures and Plant Survival/Performance Among Cut Flowers

    Most websites are very vague whenever it comes to telling you what temperatures many plants can survive down to. Instead of offering precise temperature data, you frequently see answers like, "can handle a light frost," "can handle a freeze," or "cold sensitive," which usually indicates a plant may wilt in the upper 30s or low 40s. However, when you're dealing with cool weather plants you need to know both their upper and lower limits for survival, flowering, and fruiting. Otherwise, how will you know when the proper time to plant truly is? If I listened to planting guides, my snapdragons and poppies would go in WAY too late. How would you know when you truly need to protect them with frost cloth, either?

    I know that snapdragons can handle a freeze, and I know that they can handle a light frost, but can they handle 25°F? Can they handle 20°F? Can they handle 15°F? Winter weather can extend into late fall, and it can extend quite heavily into the beginning of spring. It's not uncommon for us to deal with a drop to 20°F in March. We should already have our snapdragons in the ground in March, so it can be hard to plan your garden If you don't know exactly what temperatures these cool weather plants can handle. Frost sensitive plants on the other hand are easy, you just plant those after your estimated last frost date (then hope that a late freeze doesn't occur!)

Closing Thoughts: Do You Have Any Freeze Data to Add to the Comments?

    I hope this post helps you with planning your Snapdragon beds in future years and would absolutely love for my readers to contribute to this post in the comments! If you've noted a particular variety of cool weather flower, herb, or vegetable has survived down to a particular low temperature (and the temperature at which it wilted) please tell us in the comments! You never know how useful that information might be for the next reader!

    As an example, I've noted that carrots will survive down to 14°F before the tops died back, this was without a blanket of snow over them. The carrots regrew from their roots a month later, in late winter. The roots never died; as far as I know, we've had carrot roots survive to -11°F in-ground. This is the coldest temperature we've experienced, and my gladiolus bulbs survived it, as well.

    Thank you so much for visiting and I'm looking forward to seeing the comments that are left behind for future gardeners and readers.

Snapdragon flowers survived a hard freeze.

My snapdragons survived a dip down to 26°F! Stay tuned to see if they survive 19°F without any form of insulation, mulching, or frost cloth.