Antirrhinums

I have been out this afternoon and spent a lovely two hours going over my flower beds, weeding (thankfully not too many) and clearing away last years annuals.

I grew some variegated antirrhinums last year and they were very pretty. But When I went to pull them out I realised they are ALL regrowing from the bottom!!!

I thought they were annuals? I know they can self seed, but survive the winter? Is that usual?

 

Antirrhinums are perennial plants, but we tend to treat them as an annual...They don't always survive but many would if give the chance .

Dave

 

Aunty Rhinums are perennial (well, I'm not aware of any that are Annuals, and I definitely have Perennial ones) ... looks like you've got them for keeps :thumb:

 

Quite a lot of plants that are quoted as annual are really tender perennials. Some are even better the second year, if you can overwinter them. But some like Petunias and Salvia splendens (two other tender perennials) seem to do poorly in their second year.

 

I honestly thought they were annuals.

Is there perennial cosmos? I was once told there was but have only found annuals.

 

Unfortunately not. The normal Cosmos bipinnatus is an annual - I would love it to be perennial.

There is a tender perennial - chocolate Cosmos or Cosmos atrosanguineus - but thats a quite different plant. In fact there are about 36 different Cosmos species.

 

I've never managed to overwinter chocolate cosmos successfully so I just buy a new plant or two each year - they're great at mingling with other plants.

 

Quite a lot of plants we grow as annuals are in fact tender perennials.
I find they get through the winter OK but when the new growth starts in the spring it gets killed off by the late frosts.
And some of them are pretty poor in their second or third year, reverting to their uncultivated state.
I find it best just to grow them as annuals.

 

Alice, having seen theweather forecast for the next few days I'm worried that exact thing might happen

 

Mine died off with the harsh december we had, i saved the seed though and sowed them. Not sure what they turn out but I thought i'd give it a go.

 

I'm debating whether to have a square of my veg bed devoted entirely to cosmos. I love it but struggle to find places where I can putsuch tall plants. Is there a 1.5 ft cosmos?

 

I believe so. I like the taller ones, but I believe there are shorter ones as well. Have a look at Chilterns for a range http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/list.php?type=alphabet&value=C&page=27

They quote the Sonata range at 2'. Then there is always the C. sulphureus at 12 inches (but only in yellow I think).
Edit: Just looked at the C. sulphureus and the colour ranges from yellow to reddy orange. But it is a different species - I've never seen it.

 

I wondered when Victoria's Chicken would come back:D

 

Yes indeed - I need a chicken with me at all times!! That's my new cushion - knocked it up on my new sewing machine this afternoon. I am doing another with their house and the cherry tree in it too.

I will probably stick to the big ones then Peter. I love the pink and white ones, not a huge fan of orange in the flower beds for my garden. Thank you for your help.

I'll check out the link too.

 

I had annual Antirrhinums last year, by mid August they were literally covered with rust so they were pulled and were burnt immediately!