PlantFiles: Love-Lies-Bleeding, Tassel Flower
Amaranthus caudatus

Always had a a thing for this plant since the first time i saw it . This is my first year to give it a try. I got some of the seeds today and man they are small small. I noticed a lot of folks are in close to my zone (5) What i need to know is did those who started them start indoors or did they do good starting outdoors?

I've got a couple of little sprouts going. It's cool to see them turn from red to green as they grow.
What many people don't know is that the seeds from this plant are edible. In fact, this plant has been cultivated throughout history for food purposes.

This gorgeous plant seems to be more red if it's in partial shade. It also needs to be supported. I planted it next to a fence, but I had to tie it to get it supported. It grows readily from seed. In fact, take one of the ropes of flowers, lay it on soil and you'll be blessed with hundreds of tiny seedlings

What a surprise! A giant stalk that produced amazingly soft 'dread- locks' of rich collor. What a fun plant!
It is easy to grow from last years seeds, once you get them collected. The size of a grain of salt and resembles a tiny ball of gelatin.
The size of the seeds (1mm) makes this 'Jack- in- the- Bean Stalk' plant even more amzing!
I have grown the red Love-lies-Bleeding, the green, and the multi-color.
Background: A. caudatus Love-lies-bleeding is a grain originating in South America, where it was also domesticated. An interesting background to read, the leaves and seeds, like others in the Amaranthus genus, are edible and highly nutritious.

I got lucky when I chose this as a new gardener and now I don't want to be without it. It is carefree and stops traffic. It is prone to damping off when started indoors.

My love-lies-bleeding isn't taking anything lying down. A friend gave me a small seedling (1" tall), which I immediately planted in my front bed. Many things grow poorly there, I think because in the wintertime the salted ice and snow from the road get piled on that flower bed. But this! It's now eight feet tall and has two-foot-long chains of blossoms. Unfortunately, it looks a little silly in a bed of short flowers..!

It thrives on the heat of summer in Michigan and gets more and more colorful as the summer season wears on. Requires no care whatsoever after planting.

Discovered this curious plant by mistake from a packet of wildflower seeds and became so intrigued by it after it sprouted and flowered that I ordered some seeds from an internet shop. Started the seeds indoors in a plastic starter "greenhouse" kit, coddled the sprouts, fed them, watered them, transplanted them and they all died. Became frustrated at this failure, so I simply poured the remaining seeds in the garden in various spots, scraped some topsoil over them and ignored them. They are sprouting like crazy.....have them all over and can't wait until they flower. I nicknamed them Pink Dreadlocks.They are a great addition and a nice conversation piece. I've since read that they are a member of the Pigweed family, grow wild all over India and are used as a grain. The leaves are like Spinach. We harvested them last summer and made a salad out of them. This is a neat plant. Also planted the Joseph's Coat variety, but haven't had any good sprouts yet.

I tried this for the first time this year. What a great plant for those sun-baked areas of your garden. It is Sept 11 & still going strong. I only started three plants this year but will definitely start more next year. Very pleased with this plant's performance.

Grows in Heat Zones 12-1.

This is a fast growing plant and can grow from 3 to 5 feet tall. It has a long tassel-shaped flower in shades of red to purple. The taller varieties are great for at the back of a bed.
Love-lies-bleeding prefers full sun and dry, well-drained soil. Tall plants may need staking.