How long is love lies bleeding

After the end of the Aztec empire, the Spanish conquerors banned the growing of amaranthus altogether due to its pagan past. The plant survived in the remote areas of Mexico not under Spanish rule where it was grown to make dessert.

It has remained part of the Mexican cuisine to this day. Amaranthus made it to the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. It soon found its rightful place in many gardens and cooking recipes. From the early days, people have discovered that amaranthus was more than just a beautiful plant with pretty blooms and rich foliage.

Not just one species, but all 60 species of amaranthus are edible both leaves and seeds. But these are not the only benefits and uses you get from this amazing species. As a native of Central America as well as other tropical parts of the world, amaranthus is a plant that loves to get its full share of sunlight.

It usually takes the plant about 4 months of hot and dry weather to mature and start producing seeds. The best location is one to the south or west of your garden. These spots usually get plenty of the sun unlike the north or the east that get in the shade quickly.

You should plan the space and necessary area for the amaranthus before you plant it. Think in terms of height and width. On average the plant grows to anything between 2 to 5 feet.

Although in the right conditions, it could hit 6 feet with ease. Horizontally, the amaranthus needs around 3 feet of real estate in your garden. It branches out to one and a half to two and a half feet when fully grown. The soil needs to be rich to satisfy the amaranthus need for nutrients. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

And while Americans might enjoy Amaranthus for its attractiveness, in other parts of the world, the plant is more popular for its culinary applications, both sweet and savory. In India, Malaysia, and Indonesia, for example, the leaves are commonly used like spinach, often sauteed with chilies and spices.

Another great reason to start growing your own! The iron- and calcium-rich seeds can be dried and then cooked and eaten as you would oatmeal or porridge, or ground into a flour. And it provides three times as much fiber as wheat. Amaranth was an important food crop for the Aztecs and Incas as well. In some parts of Mexico and the US today, the dried seeds are popped and topped with sweet goodness such as honey, molasses, or chocolate. For more on cooking with amaranth, we recommend this informative article on our sister site, Foodal.

Native to an as yet un-pinpointed region of the American tropics, A. The flowers are often used in cut flower arrangements , and are also preserved for dried arrangements, though they can lose their vibrant color when dried. The plant grows 2 to 8 feet tall and from 1 to 3 feet wide.

The type of soil will impact the growth of love lies bleeding, with plants growing in rich soil or compost typically getting taller than those grown in average soil. Well-drained loam is best for Amaranthus , but it will do well in almost any soil.

You may be able to find starts at a garden center, or you can plant seeds inside 8 weeks before the last frost. A winged cherub-turned-serial killer? Sure, its long drooping magenta stalks do make love lies bleeding look like they were at the wrong end of a garden fork, or guest-starred in an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, but come on.

Nobody wants to think of their garden being the scene of either an emotional crisis or physical assault. Especially because Amaranthus caudatus is a gorgeous, unusual plant that could have been named something pleasant, like "pinot keeps pouring.

While the association with blood does jibe well with the red varieties, there are some A. That's why there are several other common names for A. Amaranthus is derived from the Greek word for "unfading," while caudatus means "tail," a nod to the long, ropelike, drooping stalks.

Do you remember Floam? If you're parents, you know what we're talking about: that colorful, polystyrene bead-infused goo kids play with the same way some of us grew up with Play-Doh. Well, long before styrofoam came along, Aztecs sculpted effigies of the war god Huitzilopochtli , the Hummingbird of the South and worst war god spirit animal ever with amaranth grains and honey.

At the end of their worship rituals, they'd break up and eat the statues. Catholic Spanish conquistadors didn't much approve of this pagan nonsense, burning Aztec amaranth crops and banning any use of the grain. That is, of course, until Cortez and his bullies showed up and ruined things. Still, renegade amaranth aficionados maintained the plant's role in the Mexican food culture until present day. George Mateljan, nutrition guru and the author of The World's Healthiest Foods , claims to have "rediscovered" amaranth, introducing it into the United States in the s.

By using the term "rediscovered," he really meant "culturally appropriated," but in this case, we'll let it slide. While we know amaranth has been around in the New World for thousands of years, it's also reportedly native to Africa and India.

Convergent evolution? Carried overseas by birds thousands of years ago? Or maybe it's been around since the Mesozoic area when all the continents were rafted up like boats at Lake Havasu on Spring Break.

Amaranthus caudatus is closely related to the production amaranth grain you'll find in your local natural foods store. There are about 60 species of amaranth, and the leaves and seeds from all are edible.

As Plants for a Future advises, nitrates—which are associated with stomach cancer and blue babies cyanotic, not Smurf can concentrate in all members of the genus' leaves and seeds when it's grown in soil with excessive levels of nitrogen. On the other hand, one study indicates nitrates from orally-administered amaranth extract actually benefit performance athletes. Another study had similar findings based on green leafy vegetables related to amaranth, which are related to brassicas. So unless you're burying bodies in your garden or deluging your beds with off-the-shelf synthetic or organic fertilizer, you shouldn't worry about toxicity.

Amaranth and, specifically, love lies bleeding is family and pet safe, and worth experimenting with in the kitchen. It's similar to quinoa in its preparation and flavor; you'll need to soak it overnight and thoroughly rinse it to get rid of the saponins and tannins, which cause that bitter, soapy flavor. Amaranth seeds, which contain complete proteins, are too tiny to be milled into flour, so they're typically eaten whole.

And again, you can grow them in a pot as well until you get your soil ready. The good thing about black berries is there overall toughness and ease of propagation. After they finish setting fruit they send up lots of suckers than can be nipped off and potted so you can increase your number of bushes each year.

My garden area is 32 feet and 36 feet long. It is positioned between my backyard fence line and my neighbors fence. I have had great luck with tomatoes, tomitillos, watermelon, cucumbers, radishes,carrots, sweetpeas, okra, and even corn a couple years ago.

This would be my first time with flowers of any kind in my garden. I started to cultivate the area for a community garden for our area about 2 years ago but am the only one who takes advantige of the garden.

I also use grey water off of the washers to irrigate the garden biodegradable soap only is used…. I chose love lies bleeding for one of my first flowers because it is somewhat low maintenance, edible, and an eye catcher. I will be graduating my seedlings eventually to 7 gal black nursery containers because the do have the potential to grow quit big. I will post pics as soon as I figure out how. What an interesting story! I am a big fan of community gardens and also water collection and reuse.

I too use my gray water on my yard and flower beds. My wife and I are going to be seriously stepping up our water collection over the next couple of years.

Hope to eventually be able to provide all of needs from the cisterns. Thanks for sharing and best of luck. Most annual plants get the majority of there water and nutrients from the roots that are in the top six inches of soil. I grew Loves Lies Bleeding for the first time last year. As the seeds dropped, I left them in the garden. I live in Zone 5b Pittsburgh, PA. Is it possible that the seeds survived the winter? I have learned to expect the unexpected with plants. Personally, I would think that you would be a little far north for them to have overwintered.

However, they grow it in Peru and big parts of there are mountainous. So maybe it can take more cold than we are thinking. When this happens in my own beds I generally let a few go for a couple of weeks to see if I can make a positive id. Who knows, you may have found a hardy variety. When I clean up my garden after freeze up early Sept , I just leave a few ropes from different plants on the ground.

About June 15th, I transplant the best hundreds come up to where I want them. They grow 3 -4 ft tall with ropes to the ground. Thanks for the comment! I love to hear how gardeners in different zones do things and I also love to hear how the plants I grow do in other zones. I am actually surprised to hear that Loves Lies Bleeding grows that far north.

Last year we had 6 feet of snow drop at once and harsh winter conditions and this spring a whole crop of new amaranth love lies bleeding popped up!

I planted love-lies-bleeding for the first time this year. They got soooo big i had to give them support starting out with tomato cages and ended up having to tie them up with string and connecting them to the house. I planted three different bunches of these plants and i have huge draping plumes almost two feet long. They are still very red,Can you help me? I was also wondering would the grain from them be safe to feed my Quaker parrots?

I would appreciate any help i can get and i can take pictures if you want to see them. Thanks again,Becky. First, congrats on your great crop! To harvest your seeds what until about half to two thirds of the red flowers have faded to beige.

Crush them in yur hands and let everything fall into a sack. Then pour the contents of the sack into a deep sided bowl. Set the bowl outside in a gentle breeze. This should carry the most of the chaff away and leave you with the seeds. Your seeds can be eaten by you and your parrot. I cut some of the red prawns in clumps,and have them hanging upside down in the Garage.

Will this work for getting seed? They are mostly brown now. I was going to put a garbage bag under them now that they have dried loosely and shake the dickens out of it.

Will that work or do they have to turn brown outside first? Thanks for your help. That will work. If they are mostly dry I would go ahead and give them a shake and capture what you can. Then let them dry further and shake again. Good luck with your harvest! You have a great blog here. You are so encouraging and positive. I was looking up info. I will do the LLB seeds in big pots out by the garden house around February unless we have a cold long winter for us, anyway.

Low nitrogen! My husband is a master gardener out here.