The Popular Low-Maintenance Flower You'll Never Need To Deadhead

When it comes to growing flowers in your garden, there are those that need a fair bit of attention, and those that will just happily get on with continuous blooming without expecting you to tend to them at all. The first group needs you to get out with your snips or pruning shears to deadhead the spent blooms so that they can produce more. But the second group consists of self-cleaning flower varieties, meaning that spent flowers just fall off and new ones continue to grow. While you might enjoy all types of flowers, if you're short on time to tend your garden, blooms that are in the second group are ideal. In fact, there's one popular flower you'll never need to deadhead, and that is Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia).

You might know these as summer snapdragons, because the blooms look very similar to the snapdragons most gardeners are familiar with. But this gorgeous flower is in a different group of plants. It's one that you may not have to replant each season, as it's a perennial shrub that will happily survive the winter in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 through 11. If you happen to be in a colder region, you can still grow this delightful bloomer as an annual. What you'll love about this plant is that its 8-inch-long flower spikes are covered with small snapdragon-like blooms that are two-lipped and available in shades of pink, blue, white, and purple. Even more impressive is the fact that this beauty will flower right through summer and into fall.

Plant your Angelonia in a sunny spot that has moist soil with excellent drainage. Ensure the soil contains lots of organic matter, and apply a layer of mulch afterward. After that, there's really not much more you need to do, except feed it once a month with a balanced fertilizer (around 10% nitrogen, 5% phosphorus, and 10% potassium is ideal). You probably won't even need to add additional water once your Angelonia is established, unless you're experiencing a long dry spell. It's just a case of waiting for it to bloom and watching the bees buzzing around the flowers for the pollen. You'll find that Angelonia flowers are perfect for a sunny yard with pets because they're not toxic when ingested.

Growing up to 18 inches tall, these plants are perfect for flower borders or even container gardens. If you're growing them en masse, space individual plants around 9 to 12 inches apart to give them enough room to grow. Best of all, you can leave your pruning shears in the shed because the tiny blooms will just drop off when they're done. You can even cut a few of the flowering stems and put them in a vase to brighten up the inside of your home. When it comes time to spruce up your late summer garden, why not consider a few other colorful annuals, like nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), scarlet sage (Salvia splendens), and impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)?