Chris, Nerf and Quirk: Turn on your Houzz email. Go to the upper right, click on Your Houzz, then click on edit profile, next go to advanced settings and scroll way, way down to where it says "who can email me" and change it to "allow anyone to email me". hope this helps Mary

Here are a few pics of 'Intense Purple' one of which I'll never need sow again! These particular ones will self-sow like no tomorrow. I had big patches out there this past spring that were carpet thick...spent LOTS of time hoeing and thinning out on hands and knees! These all came up on the perimeter of the beds on the east side of the house which is gravel road! This is in one of the beds on that side where melon was planted...a gazillion volunteers here as well! Volunteered here next to volunteer Verbena bonariensis Here is Love-lies-Bleeding in 2004. By the time this pic was taken they needed propped up! I only had 1-3 plants volunteer for me the following years. Seed is great for breads, cereal, ect. Nutty good flavor :)

ooooo Lisa I like yours too! I do like it with the Black-Eyed Susans...I wonder if I should let them re-seed in the prairie bed? Might be a lotta work thinning them out each spring, but might be well worth the color combo.Hmmmmmmmmm! That bed gets watered maybe once a month if that; they should stay rather short and not over shawdow the BES, Echinacea, Ratibida, Gaillardia ect. It probably would look good with the native grasses in there too :D Vera

Unfortunately the time to cut Amaranthus is when it looks fabulous in the yard. The optimum time to cut is now, before any seeds develop and you lose that purple colour. In order to dry the Amaranthus, I find it best to strip all the leaves (the dried leaves are unsightly). Hang the plant upside down in a dark, warm, well ventilated area (I hang in my basement. The heads will dry intact and retain the purple colour - not as vibrant I guess, but definitely purple. I've found that Amaranthus will rehydrate - in humid conditions or if your home is quite humid then they will droop some. That heavy stem you see now becomes quite light (in weight, that is) after it's dried so it should hold itself up quite well. The stem, when dried, is very strong.