Coral Fountain Amaranth

A gorgeous, cascading amaranth commonly grown as an ornamental cut flower. Similar to the Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth, these elegant, pendulous flowers range from warm coral to peach rather than deep red and hang at up to 18" long. A towering annual flower reaching anywhere from 36"-60" in height. As with most amaranth, the leaves and golden seeds are edible, and originated as a staple cereal grain in Indigenous Andean societies, where it is known as "kiwicha" in Quechua.

Photos by Nital Vadalia-Kakadia.

Days to maturity: 65-75

Seeds per pack: 125-150

Germination rate: 99% on 02/09/2024

Planting / harvesting notes

Sow indoors in spring, 4 weeks before last frost date. Or direct sow outdoors after danger of frost has passed. Prefers full sun. Thin to 12-18" apart. Harvest for greens at any time, harvest for grain when seeds rub off easily in your hand, but before seed heads are dry on plants.

Seed keeping notes

Amaranth is wind pollinated. Isolate by a minimum of 500 feet or cover the flowers with corn tassel bags to prevent unwanted cross pollination with other amaranths. Seeds are ready when they start dropping from the seed head, which matures after the flower dies back. You can cut the whole seed head and hang it to dry and mature further in a dry, ventilated place, or you can shake it while still on the plant every day or two, as the seeds ripen at different times starting from the bottom to the tip. Either way, shake the plant in a bucket to release the seeds. Use a strainer to sift out the larger chaff. Use your breath, wind, or fans to winnow off lighter weight chaff.