081026 - Amaranth

I took these photographs today of our two amaranths.

Earlier this year, I read online that a university in Minnesota planted their amaranths in May; and since our calendar summers are so cold and foggy, I decided to follow their lead.

I planted several in six packs in the nursery at the top of the backyard.

Unfortunately, the nursery became overgrown with the red dahlia and buddleia before I knew it. I was only able to save one six pack's worth of seedlings, and these are the only ones to have thrived once I planted them in the gardens. The flowers are up to eighteen inches long and feel disturbingly like a cat's tail.

Next year, I'm going to do a better job caring for the seedlings and hope to have a dozen or more in the gardens, especially since they've shown they do so well late in the year.