Amaranthus bloom 8-7-09
I ordered seeds from an eBay seller…was supposed to be Amaranthus caudatus ‘Love Lies Bleeding’. Well, in all the information I have read about this variety, they grow anywhere from 3-5 feet. I guess there are locations where they may get taller. But, the last time I measured the tallest plant, it was over 107 inches tall! Joanne Thuente from the Seed Saver’s Exchange suggested it could be a cross between A. caudatus and A. hypochondriacus since the two will cross. Who knows!
Picture taken 8-17-09
The blooms are supposed to be red on the ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ but these were more of a pinkish color!
Picture taken at night on 8-14-09.
Picture taken 9-8-09.
The blooms have been just awesome and the bees just love them.
Picture taken 10-23-09.
I am not sure if you can see all the bamboo stakes tied together or not. I ran out of 8 footers and couldn’t find any more. So, I had to tie small ones together. The wind played havoc with them if I didn’t and would snap them in two. With the plants being so tall and the blooms so heavy, using the smaller diameter short stakes wouldn’t even begin to make them grow straight! I had to put a few of the stalks back together again. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
I had a time keeping the string tied to the top of the plants. As they grew, the strings kept coming off the top of the stakes! It seemed like I was re-tying them nearly every day!
There are several different varieties of Amaranthus these days, so I will try another source for ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ for 2010.
I am also going to grow Amaranth, same family, but I think Amaranthus may be the ornamental and Amaranth is for the grain.
Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek, Heirloom Acres, Bountiful Gardens, Seeds of Change, are just a few of the MANY sources.
I am not sure how many varieties I will grow in 2010. I’d like to grow some of those with the leaves that look like HUGE Coleus that are green and red. There are many different varieties and they are available in many different varieties that grow different heights, stem colors, leaf shapes and colors, etc. Baker Creek used to list many more varieties than they offer now. I am going to have to find more sources. I did mention I like BIG and UNUSUAL plants!
