Amaranth is an annual ornamental plant that has been grown for its edible grain-like seeds for millennia.

The flower bracts Hopi red dye amaranth (known as komo in Hopi), are used to color Hopi piki bread. Although it is best used as a food dye, you can use it to obtain yellows and oranges on wool with the use of mordants (it's about as light fast as turmeric or onion skins). The leaves are delicious when young and tender, and the seeds can be popped into a delicious snack. The flowers are also STUNNING in arrangements. We like dehydrate the flowers and then pulverize them to use as a food colorant.

HARVEST

For cut flowers:

Harvest when seed heads are about three-quarters of the way open. Remove most of the foliage so the colorful spikes are more visible. Expect a vase life of 7 to 10 days.

For Dye:

Harvest anytime after flowers open.

Processing: Soak entire seed head, stem and leaves in warm to cool water immediately to extract color. Here is a blog post with details about how to get lasting color from this plant.

GROWING

Sun

Grows 2-4 feet tall

Space 2 feet apart

NOTES

Provide support for these heavy plants, such as tomato cages, stakes, or netting, to keep them upright. Pinch the plants for more manageable plants that don't grow over 6 feet. Cut back the center stem when the plants are about knee height. Clipping the main stem will promote branching with smaller and easier-to-access stems.

After harvesting the flowers, "deadhead" the spent blooms so they do not go to seed and continue to send up blooms until frost arrives.