Angelonia also known as Summer Snapdragon is a heat-loving summer annual that adds gorgeous spikes of spectacular colors to landscapes and containers. It can handle the awful humidity of the south and while not completely drought tolerant, Angelonia can stand to miss a watering every once in a while.
Angelonia comes in a wide range of varieties and sizes from the smaller Serenita to the tall Archangel to the low growing and spreading Angelmist. Each series has it’s uses and can be mixed and matched for great looking containers and flower beds with lots of color combinations and varying heights.
Angelonias have masses of small, orchid-like blooms along the flower spikes similar to snapdragons hence the Summer Snapdragon name. Flower spikes sizes vary by series. Most have an upright stem while the Angelmist arches outward. All varieties love the heat and humidity of summer and are low maintenance and fairly drought tolerant.
There is no need to prune or deadhead in most areas. If needed, shear plants back about 50% halfway through the growing season. Plants will re-flower in 2 to 3 weeks. Or instead of a 50% shear, you can just deadhead spent blooms as needed.
Serenita Angelonia
Serenita Angelonia is a shorter and more compact series that has become the go to angelonia of landscapers. It does well as a border plant in landscapes as well as in mass plantings. It is can work in containers but keep it’s growing habit in mind and match it up accordingly. Serenita is about 4-6″ shorter than its sister Serena.
Serenita Angelonia is stunning in garden beds, patio planters, and mixed containers. Their dainty blooms also make a nice cut flower for arrangements. Deer and rabbits tend to avoid snacking on these beauties, but butterflies and hummingbirds love to visit.
Serenita grows 12-14″ tall and 12-14″ wide. Plant in full sun 10-12″ apart.
We grow Serenita Angelonia in #4.5 Premium pots and carry Purple, Rose and White.
AngelDance Angelonia
AngelDance Angelonia is an upright series of Angelonia that have unique bi-colored blooms. There are currently 2 colors in the AngelDance series – Fuchsia Bicolor and Violet Bicolor. Their large flowers stand out against the glossy green foliage.
AngelDance will thrive in hot summers. It tolerates high humidity and drought. The plants are well branched and have a uniform habit. They have more flexible stems than Archangel Angelonia and these flexible stems “dance” in the breeze.
AngelDance is a little taller than Archangel and has the same outstanding landscape performance.
Plant AngelDance 12-14″ apart. Grows 14-18″ tall and 12-14″ wide.
We grow AngelDance Angelonia in our #4.5 Premium Annual category.
Archangel Angelonia
Archangel Angelonia is an upright series of Angelonia with large blooms on tall flower stems. Archangel is taller than Serenita and Angelmist. It’s well branched and fill out well. This habit is well suited for landscapes but also works very well in containers.
Out of the three, Archangel has the biggest blooms which makes for awesome garden color. You can plant masses of Archangel or use it as a background planting with a complimenting border plant like Ageratum or Begonias.
In containers it is often used as the center focal plant or in some it is planted to one side with a slightly short plant set on the other and a trailing plant in the front to create a stair-step look that can be placed in corners. Archangel looks good in combinations or in monoculture container.
Plant Archangel in full sun 10-12″ apart. Grows 12-14″ tall.
We grow Archangel Cherry Red in our #4.5 Premium Annual category.
Angelmist Spreading Angelonia
Angelmist Angelonia is a lower growing, mounding/spreading type angelonia. While it is about the same height of Serenita, Angelmist is more vigorous and each plant covers a lot more area. Angelmist also has bigger blooms than Serenita.
Angelmist is another good choice for flower bed borders but where it really shines is in containers. It is a great choice for both monoculture and mixed containers. It’s spreading habit will arch out from containers and hanging baskets with showy bloom spikes. It’s mounding habit can be uses as the focal plant (center) in a combination. While it’s spreading habit can also spill out in semi-trailing growth.
Angelmist Angelonia grows 6-10″ tall. Plant in full sun 12-20″ apart. Closer planting will promote more upright growth and wider plants will encourage more spreading.
We grow 3 colors of Angelmist Spreading Angelonia in our #6 Premium category. We also use Angelmist in a several of our combinations in #12 Deco and #12 Baskets.
Angelonia in Combinations
We also use Angelonia in combo in both our #12 Combo Deco pots and #12 Combo Baskets.
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