Love lies bleeding in the garden. (Amaranthaceae)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Amaranthaceae
Date:	26/02/08 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good plant

Disadvantages: none

LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING, Amaranthus caudate a member of the Amaranthaceae family


In memory of my father.

I shall tell you a tale of love lies bleeding. . I thought I would tell you a tale of love lies bleeding. I went to my father's house at the weekend and was clearing out his green house and I found some love lies bleeding seeds.

Love lies bleeding; Amaranthus caudate is a member of the Amaranthaceae family. This plant is an annual need to be grown every year.

I shall try to grow a few of these seeds for my own garden I hope the seeds are not too old and still fertile. These seeds should be sown March to April indoors April to May outdoors.

To grow indoors in my greenhouse I shall prepare a tray of seed compost sow the seeds and keep them moist and warm, you could sow the seeds direct into your soil though. These flowers will probably self set in later years

In April or May the plants should be big enough to plant out in the garden about 1 to 2 feet /30 -60 cm apart. I shall put them towards the back of the border as they grow to about 3 to 5foot /90cm to 150 cm tall these plants do like a little moisture but should be ok if the weather is a bit dry. They are a hardy plant that likes the sun or partial shade.

These tall plants have stems and leaves that are tinged with red. The blood red crimson flowers are form a long tassel like a catkin which droops several of these drooping spikes come from the same stem. You can see easily how the flower gets the name love lies bleeding.

This flower means love and immortality; I think this plant also is believed to hold medicinal properties do check these out

If you wish to have love lies bleeding in your garden seeds are available at http://fothergills.co.uk/en/amaranthus-crimson-lov e-lies-bleeding--162.aspx for £1.25p also you should be able to get these sees at most garden centres.

I thank my dad for encouraging and fostering my love of plants wildlife and gardening.
Enjoy your gardening Mary

Summary: An annual plant