Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth)

Incredibly showy, Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth) is prized by gardeners for its cheery, long-lasting flowers. Blooming its heart out all summer long and sometimes until frost, this wonderful annual or perennial plant is easy to grow, tolerates heat and drought, and attracts beneficial insects to the garden. To double the pleasure, the brightly colored flowers can be dried without losing their vibrancy to create everlasting bouquets. Gomphrena is a mighty workhouse flower every gardener should be growing.

All you need to know about Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena)

• Gomphrena is a small genus of edible and ornamental plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae, native to Central America, the Southern U.S., and Mexico.
   
• It is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental, as well as having uses in traditional medicine and as a source of betacyanins for use in the food and cosmetic industry. 
   
• 2 species are popular among gardeners:
• Gomphrena globosa (Globe Amaranth) is a charming, bushy annual boasting a profusion of clover-like flower heads composed of pink, purple or white papery bracts. Blooming for months from early summer to the first frost, the flowers are borne on stiff, upright branched stems. Native to Central America, Globe Amaranth grows up to 6-24 inches tall (15-60 cm).
   
• Gomphrena haageana (Rio Grande Globe Amaranth) is a tender perennial, often treated as an annual, boasting a profusion of ball-shaped flowers composed of fiery orange papery bracts. Peeping from the bracts are tiny yellow flowers. Blooming from early summer to the first frost, the flowers can be riveting in the garden. Native to the Southern U.S. and Mexico, they grow up to 24-30 inches tall (60-75 cm).
   
• Globe Amaranth leaves are long and slender. The young leaves are woolly-white and turn green with sparsely white hairs when matured.