Love-lies-bleeding
Annual
Family: Amaranthaceae
Amaranthus species
A genus comprising about fifty half-hardy annuals
of coarse growth and native to mild and tropical
countries in many parts of the world.
The foliage is large, oval and pointed, and the
flowers are small and numerous, forming into a
drooping tassel-like raceme.
The familiar Love-lies-bleeding is Amaranthus
caudatus: two to three feet, it hails from the
tropics and has drooping reddish stems bearing
purple flowers;
var. atropurpureus is of a slightly deeper and
richer tone;
var. viridis is a white-flowered form similar
in habit to the foregoing.
Known as Joseph’s Coat, Amaranthus tricolor,
from India, has red, green and yellow foliage
and drooping purple flowers.
Amaranthus hybridus is too coarse to be of value
in cultivation, but its form var. hypochondriacus,
four to five feet high, known as Prince’s
Feather, is favoured in gardens for its branching,
erect panicles of bright red.
Seed may be sown under glass with artificial heat
in March, pricked off into boxes or pots when
an inch or so high and planted out-of-doors in
June.
Propagation is from seed.
The flowering season is from midsummer onwards.
Amaranthus
Amaranthus caudatus, Love-lies-bleeding;
Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Prince’s Feather.
These two are hardy annuals, with dark foliage
and spikes of crimson flower.
May be sown in the way that is found to suit the
soil and the climate; in the open in favourable
conditions; in boxes under some shelter where
unprotected sowings are found to fail.
The varieties melancholicus ruber and tricolor
are half-hardy foliage plants, having crimson
leaves variegated with yellow, green or white.
They must be raised from seed sown in heat in
March, and brought on with the usual routine until
it is safe to plant them out in May or early June.
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