My Deer Garden

Plant record · Annual

Is Snapdragon deer resistant?

Antirrhinum majus

Pink and yellow snapdragon flower spike
Photo by Craig Franklin, CC BY-SA 3.0 au. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Damage step 1 of 4 · Rarely Damaged

Yes. Deer almost always leave this alone.

Type
Annual
Hardiness
Grown as an annual, any zone
Light
Full sun
Height
6–36 in
Bloom
Spring and Summer and Fall
Maintenance
Moderate

Damage steps follow a published university field scale. How plants are rated.

About Snapdragon

Cool-season annual that flowers hardest in spring and again in fall, sulking through midsummer heat. Cut the first spike out to force branching.

Do deer eat snapdragons?

Rarely. Rutgers rates snapdragon Rarely Damaged, the top tier, and NC State's entry for Antirrhinum majus says "this plant is seldom damaged by deer." It is one of the few bedding annuals with that rating and earns a place in a deer garden for that reason alone. Rarely is not never; under real pressure the flower spikes are what go, because they are the soft part.

Where it fails

In heat, not to deer. NC State: "low drought tolerance, languishes in the summer heat," which is the sulking above. Plant it for spring and fall, at 6 inches to 3 feet by cultivar, and cut the first spike to force the branching that carries the second season.

If one is browsed

Cut the spike out as if it had been pinched and the plant branches below it; a snapdragon browsed in May is flowering again by June, on a plant that has been forced to do exactly what the grower would have done anyway.

Soil and care

Soil pH
6 to 7
Drainage
Well drained
Water
Moderate
Spacing
8 to 12 in apart
Growth rate
Moderate
Maintenance
Moderate

Similar to Snapdragon

Other annuals with the same deer rating.

Where Snapdragon grows

Hardy across every state on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering. Select any state, including one it will not grow in, for what is resistant there.

Alabama — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Alaska — hardy here. Zones 1 to 8.Arizona — hardy here. Zones 5 to 10.Arkansas — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.California — hardy here. Zones 7 to 10.Colorado — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Connecticut — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Delaware — hardy here. Zones 7 to 7.District of Columbia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 8.Florida — hardy here. Zones 8 to 11.Georgia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Hawaii — hardy here. Zones 9 to 12.Idaho — hardy here. Zones 3 to 7.Illinois — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Indiana — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Iowa — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Kansas — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Kentucky — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.Louisiana — hardy here. Zones 8 to 10.Maine — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Maryland — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Massachusetts — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Michigan — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Minnesota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Mississippi — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Missouri — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Montana — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Nebraska — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Nevada — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.New Hampshire — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.New Jersey — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.New Mexico — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.New York — hardy here. Zones 4 to 7.North Carolina — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.North Dakota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 4.Ohio — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Oklahoma — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Oregon — hardy here. Zones 6 to 9.Pennsylvania — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Rhode Island — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.South Carolina — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.South Dakota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Tennessee — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Texas — hardy here. Zones 6 to 9.Utah — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.Vermont — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Virginia — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Washington — hardy here. Zones 5 to 8.West Virginia — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Wisconsin — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Wyoming — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.
Hardy on zone rangeNot hardy — still linked
Choose a state from the listeasier on a phone

Common questions about Snapdragon

Is Snapdragon deer resistant?
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is rated Rarely Damaged, step 1 of 4 on the damage scale this site uses. Deer almost always leave this alone.
What hardiness zones does Snapdragon grow in?
Snapdragon is hardy in USDA zones 2 to 11. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
Does Snapdragon grow in shade?
No. Snapdragon wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
How big does Snapdragon get?
Mature height is roughly 6–36 in. Growth rate is moderate.

Browse from here

Every list Snapdragon belongs to.

All annuals·Rarely damaged·Full sun plants

Hardy in these zones

Zone 3·Zone 4·Zone 5·Zone 6·Zone 7·Zone 8·Zone 9

Damage ratings follow the four-step field scale published by Rutgers University. Growing data is compiled from state extension sources and still being verified record by record. Last reviewed .