Once Proud Amaranth
My purple amaranth was very beautiful a month ago. Though it never reached eight feet as the seed packet promised (like two to four), it was a nice addition to the garden.
I don’t know if it was soil (mine is adobe brick) and poor drainage, or irregular watering, but the tall shoots of blooms would drop over. Now, it looks like this.
At some point, I was supposed to cut off the heads, put in a bag, let dry, then thresh them for the grain, which you can pop like corn or cook like rice. But, I haven’t done that. The once-plum colored leaves have faded.
And the color of the flowers is now cherry red. Each one of those tiny blooms is so intricate.
You think it’s trying to tell me something? Like, okay, I’m done for this year?
Thanks for stopping by! – Kaye
Category: Vegetables
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It seems beautiful in all stages!
Thanks, Mary! I wish I’d had the time to try threshing. – Kaye
And if it had reached 8 feet tall, it would have been majestic! Waist high doesn’t really do it. I feel the same way about sunflowers. The parrots won’t touch a sunflower under 7 feet high! My new sunflowers are wilted and un-pecked.
I like the starfish plant!
I shot that from above (see, I should have been looking UP at them if they had reached their 8′ potential), and it does look like a starfish. 🙂