Growing Amaranthus (Love-Lies-Bleeding): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Amaranthus is an ornamental relative of the vegetable amaranths, grown not for its leaves but for its long, rope-like tassels of tiny flowers, deep red in the classic “love-lies-bleeding” form that gives the plant its common name.
Keep the transplants cool
Germination takes 7 to 10 days at 70-75°F, but once seedlings are up, grow them cool, around 62-65°F, rather than warm. Warm conditions push soft, leggy growth that doesn’t hold up once the plant is outside. Transplant 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost, or direct-seed after frost danger has passed. Space plants 12 to 15 inches apart, tighter at 3 to 6 inches for a row of thinner, more upright stems.
Two harvest points
For fresh arrangements, cut once about three-quarters of the flowers on a tassel have opened. For dried arrangements, wait longer, until the seed has set and the flowers feel firm rather than soft to the touch; cutting too early leaves them limp as they dry.
Amaranthus has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. Its height and dramatic form make it a good back-row anchor in the Garden Designer, planned alongside shorter cut-flower rows in front.
Source: Amaranthus: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Amaranthus (Love-Lies-Bleeding) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 3-5 ft
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Either works.
When to plant amaranthus (love-lies-bleeding), by zone
Every zone amaranthus (love-lies-bleeding) grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a & 2b | Apr 15–Apr 22 | May 20–May 27 | Aug 18–Aug 25 |
| 3a & 3b | Apr 25–May 2 | May 30–Jun 6 | Aug 28–Sep 4 |
| 4a & 4b | Apr 10–Apr 17 | May 15–May 22 | Aug 13–Aug 20 |
| 5a & 5b | Apr 5–Apr 12 | May 10–May 17 | Aug 8–Aug 15 |
| 6a & 6b | Mar 21–Mar 28 | Apr 25–May 2 | Jul 24–Jul 31 |
| 7a & 7b | Mar 6–Mar 13 | Apr 10–Apr 17 | Jul 9–Jul 16 |
| 8a & 8b | Feb 18–Feb 25 | Mar 25–Apr 1 | Jun 23–Jun 30 |
| 9a & 9b | Jan 11–Jan 18 | Feb 15–Feb 22 | May 16–May 23 |
| 10a & 10b | Dec 26–Jan 2 | Jan 30–Feb 6 | Apr 30–May 7 |
| 11a & 11b | Nov 27–Dec 4 | Jan 1–Jan 8 | Apr 1–Apr 8 |
Bloom dates are about 90 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
Zone 2 sows before zone 3 here, which looks wrong and is not. USDA zones rank winter cold, not season length, and zone 2 is mostly interior Alaska, where hard winters come with warm summers. More on what a zone measures.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Amaranthus (Love-Lies-Bleeding) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Love-Lies-Bleeding' amaranthus: Johnny's Selected Seeds sells Amaranthus caudatus under this name for its classic long, drooping, deep-red tassels, a Victorian-era garden favorite and their main offering of this particular species. (source) Buy seeds: True Leaf Market · Burpee
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy amaranthus seeds
True Leaf Market · Burpee (each supplier's amaranthus seeds)
The varieties we recommend above each have their own buy links, for the suppliers that sell that exact variety.
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing amaranthus (love-lies-bleeding)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Amaranthus (Love-Lies-Bleeding): An ornamental grain-family relative of vegetable amaranth, grown for its long, dramatic tassels of deep red flowers rather than for eating.
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