Love-Lies-Bleeding (Tassel Flower)
Amaranthus caudatus. AMARANTHACEAE.
Planting and Growing Love-Lies-Bleeding
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow love-lies-bleeding in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of love-lies-bleeding
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for love-lies-bleeding
- Season of bloom and planting time for love-lies-bleeding
- When, how deep, and where to plant love-lies-bleeding
- How to plant love-lies-bleeding
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of love-lies-bleeding
- Landscape and container uses of love-lies-bleeding
- Comments about love-lies-bleeding and its features
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Growing Love-Lies-Bleeding
Several cultivars of erect, branching annual herbs, 3–5 ft. (90–150 cm) tall. Alternate, smooth, medium green, oval, pointed, veined, edible leaves, to 10 in. (25 cm) long.
Common cultivars include Amaranthus caudatus ‘Green Thumb’ and ‘Pygmy Torch’.
See also Joseph’s-Coat, Amaranthus tricolor, a closely related species with similar care needs. Both plants are also related to Amaranth, Amaranthus varieties and hybrids, a leafy green vegetable similar in taste and appearance to spinach.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many tiny, deep red, flute-shaped flowers, in cascading woolly, tasseled or ropelike clusters, 18–24 in. (45–60 cm) long, in summer–late autumn, forming edible seed.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 2–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Damp to dry, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 7.0–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Mid- to late spring in full sun, 2 ft. (60 cm) apart, after soil warms. Avoid transplanting.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep damp during growth and bloom; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Fertilize monthly. Drought, heat tolerant. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, beds, fencelines, walls in cottage, meadow, natural, wildlife gardens. Good for drying, salads, grain. Pest and disease resistant.