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Little River Cooperative

Celosia Amaranth (celosia argentea spicata) 100 seeds

$6.00 USD
$6.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Celosia is a variety of tropical friendly amaranth that we grow in our gardens for production of its showy edible variegated leaves and its beautiful cut flower. Amaranth is commonly grown throughout the world for its edible grain, however many Caribbean natives use the leaves cooked in traditional dishes like the stewed green "callaloo". Use the tender leaves of the Celosia plant for cooking and then let it flower and enjoy its beautiful fuscia and pink blossoms either cut fresh in a vase or dried. Because the celosia flower is already quite dry by nature it lasts a long time on the plant, even longer in the vase, and dries with its vivid color intact.  

Celosia is considered summer and tropics friendly because it is a tender perennial in areas with no freeze (zones 10-12), but it can also be grown successfully as an annual in all other zones in the continential US. Allow the plant to reach its peak size and it creates a large shrub with hundreds of pointed blossoms on the plant at a time. If grown as an annual it may not reach such sizes but will still yield a good amount of beautiful cut flowers and edible leaves. 

Planting and growing tips: celosia seed is very small and barely needs to be planted, just press the seeds into the surface of premoistened potting or germination mix and cover with a light dusting of mix to keep moist. Germination should occur in 5 days. Be careful not to add too many of the tiny seeds to one pot or tray cell. Plants can be thinned to 2 or 3 after 14 days of growth. This is a large type of celosia growing into an annual shrub of up to 4 feet in diameter if given the proper space and nutrition. Regular pruning of flowers for cut flower use will encourage bushy growth habits. Allow a few of your blossoms to dry on the plant, store them in a brown paper bag, give them a good shake and you should have plenty of saved seed for next season. Celosia does best in full sun. 

All seeds were harvested from our urban farm and plant nursery in 2020. Seed packages are hand silkscreened by Gold Teeth Brooklyn, a handmade stationery company based in Los Angeles. 

Seeds have been tested for reliable germination in our nursery at 80 degree daytime temperatures. We recommend using them within 1 year of date of purchase.

Please note: because we are a working farm we only ship seed orders once weekly so please be patient with your package. If you need a rush shipment please email us and we will do our best to accommodate. 

Materials

All of our plants are produced using OMRI certified organic materials (potting mix, fertilizer & pesticides) however our nursery is not certified organic. Plants are shipped in compostable peat moss pots and we use heirloom & organic seeds whenever possible.

Shipping & Returns

We ship plant orders every Monday. Due to the nature of shipping plants we only offer expedited shipping for our live plant orders. Our returns & exchanges policy is also quite strict since its hard to control the quality of a plant once it leaves our facility, however we do our very best to make sure that each and every customer is satisfied with their plants. Read more about our policies here. 

Size

All of our plants are potted in 4" pots and their foliage size varies based on how large the plant is naturally when its root ball is the correct size for the pot. If a plant is too tall for our shipping box we may prune it to fit (bonus: many plants do better after being pruned since they make bushier growth). We do our very best to ship all of our plants in the "sweet spot" of maturity however so long as the roots have colonized the pot we will consider a plant mature enough to ship.

Care Instructions

When you receive your plant its critical to get it out of its box and into the light the day it arrives. It will also want to be removed from its compostable plastic wrapping and given fresh water to drink. Keep in mind, this plant was grown in the tropical humid climate of South Florida, so if it's terribly cold or dry where you are it'll need to be hardened off before planting outdoors. Visit our care instructions page for more thorough info about caring for your new plant friend.

  • What Our Customers Have to Say:

    This is a great, local organization with really knowledgeable & friendly staff. They make gardening easy and accessible, and I've purchased many high quality plants and equipment from them.
    -Kate Black (5 star google review)

  • And Another One:

    How lucky we are to have a resource like Little River Cooperative here in Miami, not only for the access they offer to a great selection of plants and produce, but also for the knowledge they provide and the sense of community they foster!
    -Nick Vagnoni (5 star google review)