Growing angelonia in pots is my favorite answer to the annual midsummer question: what can possibly look good when the patio feels like the surface of the sun? Summer snapdragon (Angelonia angustifolia) takes heat, humidity, and bright sunshine in its stride, flowering for months in containers with remarkably little fuss. Better still, its nectar-rich blooms can bring butterflies and hummingbirds close enough to inspect your iced tea.
It has the useful upright poise of a snapdragon but none of that plant’s tendency to wilt theatrically once summer arrives. Angelonia is a tender perennial in USDA Zones 9–11 and an exceptionally useful annual in cooler temperate zones.
