PlantFiles: Globe Amaranth, Gomphrena
Gomphrena globosa

Found 1 six pack last year and planted it in my herb garden to add color around the basil. Not knowing how large it would get, I ended up moving it around to other areas in the garden. It bloomed all through the summer and to frost, sustained well through all weather conditions my region 4-5 could throw at it in my partly shaded yard. This little lovely did so well, I've collected dozens of seeds and am starting my own flat. I agree with others, the purple is my favorite.

I absolutely loved this plant. It filled in the space very nice and kept up a wonderful display of blooms from July through frost. I was a fantastic cut flower as well.

Sorry to say, but I did not have luck growing this particular plant specimen. I see it needs full sun, and maybe my location was a bit too shady for proper growth. I might try to grow it in the future under proper conditions. Does anyone know the best way to propagate this plant?

I first bought these as a fill in until some of the plants in my new beds became larger. These quickly became my little grandaughter's favorite flowers. I have given them little attention . This is our rainy season and I expect to have to water them as needed during the drier months. Where my larger plants have grown these still manage to show themselves quite well . I love the stages of color the blooms have which gives a variation throughout the beds.

I've found this plant does well either in a container with rich potting soil or in the sandy soil we have here. But while some find it "drought tolerant", I find (in FL) it requires a goodly bit of supplemental water to do well.

Easy to grow, nice border plant, fairly drought tolerant.

I like to pot some of these plants for interest around the garden. They come in so many pretty colors, but I love the vibrant purple the best, it looks great in a pot sitting near my yellow roses.

San Antonio, Tx.
I found that these perform better in poor soil, no fertilizer and regular supplemental water in hot weather. Mulching in hot climates helps also. Until I discovered this, the plants just withered, turned white and died.

Globe amaranth, native to Panama and Guatemala, has attained naturalized status in Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, Virgin Islands and Virginia. It is grown as an annual bedding plant attaining a 1-2 feet height and one foot width. It has a bushy habit with branched, stiff and erect stems.The branched stems are erect and stiff and the plant has a bushy appearance. The flowerheads are produced on upright spikes from summer until frost. They are composed of stiff, colorful and papery bracts which are very flashy. The inconspicuous individual flowers within the flowerheads are extremely small, but there are many of them. The globe amaranth is available in shades of white, pink and purple. Butterlies love this plant.

Plant its seeds after soaking them for a day or two in the spring after all danger of frost has past. Plant the seeds close together to force them to produce long stems for flower arrangements and/or dried flower arrangements. The flowerheads are used extensively in dried arrangements and will hold their shape and color indefinitely. Just as the heads are opening, cut them and hang them upside down in a warm, dark place to dry.

I tried to grow this unusual annual out by my mailbox in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, one Summer, but it died out rather quickly. I bought the plants as a six-pack, in flower, late in the Spring, so they were obviously greenhouse grown. Perhaps they peaked too early, or couldn't stand the transition from a greenhouse to my hot, sunbaked mailbox out by the street and the driveway. The heavy, red clay soil was amended and they got plenty of water--perhaps too much? So they were replaced that Fall by maroon-flowered, perennial mums that did very well out there for several seasons.

I loved the unusual flowers, and I think I will try to grow them again, but from seed this time. I'm really dissatisfied with the greenhouse-grown six packs of pretty annuals offered every Spring at all the plant nurseries, especially the large garden areas of the discount "big box" stores. They look so beautiful, but rarely do well when brought into the real-world, often quite harsh conditions of a Southern garden.

Be sure to cut the flowers early, when they have just formed, if you plan on use for a dried flower arrangement... otherwise they tend to fall apart after they dry.

An easy annual to grow. Bushy plant with round, clover-like flower heads in colors from white, pink, red, lavender or purple. Often planted in the front of the border, or in containers for season-long color.