Invasive plants |

For me, growing new things is a big part of the fun in gardening. Each year, I like to try at least one new vegetable and one new flower. Sometimes the new things work out and sometimes they don’t. This year, one of my flower experiments has yielded a keeper: Love-Lies-Bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus).

Love-Lies-Bleeding flower heads just beginning to form

Love-Lies-Bleeding (and all amaranths for that matter) is easy to grow, tolerant of poor soils and incredible to look at. In less than three months, mine have gone from seed to eye catching three foot tall plants covered in long red inflorescence that cascade almost down to the ground. These plants have been grown for ornamental purposes for a very long time. A. caudatus was included in a plant survey found in Colonial Williamsburg and it was very popular in Victorian English gardens.

Love-Lies-Bleeding is member of the amaranth family. Amaranths are a diverse species with plants whose foliage and inflorescence range from yellow to red to deep purple. In addition to producing very showy inflorescence, amaranths are edible. Both the leaves and the seeds are harvested as food all over the world. The leaves are used much like spinach and the seeds are used as grains. However, since amaranths are not in the grass family, their seeds are gluten free. Amaranth was a very important crop for both the Aztecs and the Inca. To this day, the seeds are still “popped” like popcorn, mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate and sold as snacks on the streets of Mexico.

Up close on the developing flower head

The botanical name of Love-Lies-Bleeding derives from Greek and means “unfading flower”. This is an accurate description as the flowers are very long lasting cut flowers and they can be easily dried to extend the amount of time that you get to enjoy them. For fresh flower arrangements, cut amaranths when ¾ of the flowers are open on the stem. They will last 7-10 days in a vase. If you want to dry them, harvest when the seed begin to set and the flowers are firm to the touch. Cut and hang upside down for at least 10 days. This is great for Texas as high heat during the drying process allows the flowers to better retain their color.

Love-Lies-Bleeding is easy to grow and extremely well suited for our hot Texas climate. Plant seeds when the soil is around 70 degrees. It is tolerant of both drought and poor soils. In fact, too much nitrogen and the flowers will not be as bright. Give it too much water and the plants may break. Water deeply but infrequently. It does not like wet feet. Once it sprouts, thin to about 18” since it is not uncommon for these plants to reach five feet in height and spread to over two feet.

This is what the flower head looks like two weeks after the first picture was taken. Notice how the flower color has begun to fade. The soil in my potager has too much nitrogen for this plant that loves marginal soils.

Like all things that are easy to grow, Love-Lies-Bleeding does have its problems. Since each plant can produce over 100,000 seeds, it can be a bit invasive (it is in the same family as pigweed). However, when young, the plants have a shallow root system and are very easy to pull. And, since I know I am going to have to pull weeds anyway, I might as well pull something that will grow into a beautiful plant if I miss it!

Hummingbird migration season is upon us. Because of this, we have so many ruby throated and black chinned hummers in our yard that my wife is filling our two feeders everyday. While the hummers seem to appreciate the sugar syrup that she makes for them, they always head first to the only thing that is still really blooming in my garden; cypress vine.

Cypress vine flowers on my potager fence. Photo by Ramez Antoun

Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) is a member of the morning glory family and as such grows very well in our hot Texas summers. It is a tropical plant that is native to Mexico and Central America. It is a lovely vining plant that can grow 20 feet or more in a single season. Cypress Vine has loose, feathery foliage that is covered with hundreds of tiny, tubular flowers. The star shaped flowers can range in color from deep red to almost white and they are irresistible to butterflies and hummingbirds. Other common names for this plant include Hummingbird Flower, Star Glory, and Cardinal Plant.

Cypress vine is very easy to grow. Start seeds when the soil has warmed up to around 70 degrees. It prefers full sun but can tolerate light shade. Cypress Vine likes to be kept in moist, rich, well drained soils but it will grow in just about any type of soil and will tolerate some dry periods. Cypress Vine is a quick grower and can produce blooms in as little as 45 days. You can fertilize with a high phosphorus fertilizer right before the first bloom to enhance its flowering. Cypress vine readily reseeds itself so once established you will be able to enjoy this plant year after year.

Cypress Vine on the arbor

Because of its vining habit, Cypress Vine needs support. I planted mine against the western fence of my potager. This fence has an arbor over the gate and I wanted it to spread over both of these structures. All of the growth you see in these pictures came from two vines.

Unmanaged, Cypress vine will grow in and over anything that is in its way. Since mine is on a fence, I trained it to grow up and out toward the arbor. This kept most of the runners in check. Some runners did grow down into my daylilies but I simply pulled them off. The plant did not seem to mind one bit. Cypress vine is also an aggressive self seeding annual. All of those lovely flowers produce tons of little black seeds. So, if you plant Cypress Vine, be prepared to have lots of it in years two and three.

All of this from two vines in the first season!

Cypress Vine is a very lovely and very hearty plant that thrives in our climate. It is easy to grow and looks great on a fence, trellis or arbor. This self seeding annual is relatively disease and pest free and will provide you with a flush of blooms from May through late fall. If you can tolerate its aggressive growth habit it will reward you with a beautiful late summer garden full of butterflies and hummingbirds.

*This article was published in the September issue of “Hort Update” (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2010/sep/)