Globe amaranth, [also known as the Pom Pom plant,] has the botanical name Gomphrena globosa and adult butterflies love this pretty annual.
The little round flower heads bloom for a long time in the sunny summer garden and into early fall, and dry beautifully for winter bouquets. The pink and orange varieties are especially striking and hold up well in a vase, especially if only one bloom is cut per stem. Fortunately, they have long stems so that is useful for many types of flower arrangements.
This annual plant hails from Southeast Asia, but the original flower has been improved upon by horticultural firms. Plants grow 24 inches tall with small oval hairy leaves, and flowers can be pink, purple, yellow, orange, and white, and deer and rabbits do not like them.
They enhance cut flower bouquets, and also do well in mixed garden pots with other deer-resistant plants such as salvia and cleome.
Sometimes, if cut with short stems, they just dry in a vase, but it is best to hang them upside down in a bunch in a dry, well-ventilated dark spot, so that the long stems dry straight.
This is an annual that keeps on giving and plays well with other plants in beds and vases.
This is Moya Andrews and today we focused on globe amaranth.
