Amaranthus - a great dual purpose annual performer

For a plant with such tiny seeds it’s always a surprise when Amaranthus comes into flower with its bright tassels at head height.  We love it and have decided to add some other varieties to our border next year.

As well as the commonly seen red there are a number of other colour options that include green, burgundy, and brown.  Even the leaves come in a range of colours with greens, bicoloureds, and beautiful dark burgundies - a good reason alone to grow them.

Often reaching a height of 5ft or more we have found a way of taming these giants.  Left with a pot of seedlings after pricking out we decided to simply pot the whole clump up together.  The result has been a suitably ‘bonsai‘d’ mass of flowers of about 18 inches in height. 

There’s a use for this plant in the vegetable garden too.  Known as callaloo the young leaves are used as micro-greens, as a salad leaf, or as mature leaves used like spinach.