Today marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, so of course my thoughts went straight to the garden, where dragon are right at home. One of my absolute favorite spring/fall flowers is the snapdragon. They're as bright and cheerful as a Chinese New Year parade and who doesn't remember the first time an adult showed you the snap in the dragon head flowers?
Another charmingly imposing garden dragon is the dragonfly. Few insects wolf down as many gnats and mosquitoes as these wide-eyed dragons. I think the Year of the Dragon is a very good omen for our gardens.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
im in my fifties, have gardened for years, but i didnt know what the purpose of dragonflies was! i asked my husband and he knew. i guess the subject just never came up. you learn something new everyday. thanks for this lesson to brighten up such a gloomy mid- winter day!
I love both Snapdragons and Dragonflies. I plant deep pink and deep red snapdragons every year in different parts of the garden and am happy to see that they are finally being offered more widely in the garden centres. I think they fell out a favor for a while as old fashioned.
Also I noticed a vast increase in the number of dragonflies in my garden and neighborhood last year. We are pesticide free here in Ottawa Canada so I have to believe that is helping increase the numbers and also the number of butterflies and songbirds around which is a very good thing!