I don't know if I can help, but I hated to see your post unanswered. Has the sun exposure changed? Trees grow, and this year's rains have produced robust vines and shrubs. Less sun might account for fewer blooms. Also, did you treat them with fertilizer? Fertilizer will encourage foliage at the expense of blooms. Is there any chance we could see a picture of these snapdragons? I have them growing in quite a bit of shade, and mine seem to be blooming normally.

Wish I could be more help.

Martha

I'll ask you about temperature. It's been a wacky growing season for many parts of the country. Any big changes this year?

Thank you both for your help, both of you have provided food for thought.

When they were blooming nicely I did fertilize them and then they didnt bloom so nicely anymore. So, there's that!

Also, we had temps soar to 108 two days, with triple digit heat surrounding those days, so there's that also.

We do get weather that can reach 100 to 101 for a few days, but that is much later in July and in years past, never tended to last too many days, but in the past decade Ive noticed much hotter temps arriving much earlier and lasting much longer. This year though was really unusual in its early extreme.

Thank you both for taking the time to help with ideas. I suspect it might be wise for me to start growing them in a different area entirely which does provide enough sun for annuals but is in deep shade as the temps rise all afternoon and into evening - the hottest part of the day here hits at 5 pm, with very cool mornings until noon with hot evenings as those temp highs slowly fade.

Again, thanks!

Are you POSITIVE that the "big, fat green bloom buds" at the bottom aren't actually seed pods from spent flowers? My experience in growing snaps in zone 5 is that by the time the buds at the top of the stalk are getting ready to open, the flowers that had formed first, at the bottom of the stalk, have already developed into seed pods. I suggest that you take one of your "fat green buds", cut it in half with a sharp knife, and see if it contains developing petals or developing seeds. The flowerbuds will be soft if you squeeze them. Seed pods much firmer