Saturday, July 16, 2016

Mystery Solved

Ilene, aka therockwhisperer, identified the plant as an amaranth, the species being Love Lies Bleeding.  She said she has been trying for years to get one started.  And here I have cut the plants down!  The weeds we have in the pastures are also from the amaranth family and they take over if left.  They have sharp stickers and make millions of seeds; it's a terrible plant to have in a vegetable garden.  Maybe this plant wouldn't have been so aggressive but I just couldn't take the chance.  There are a lot of good pictures of its blooms on the internet and I'll admit, it's an interesting plant.

So thanks, Ilene, for sharing your knowledge.  Wish you could have had these plants.

And, thanks for all who commented about the mystery plant.

Charlotte

After reading some latter comments, I wanted to add that the flower in my header photo is called a Spider Lily.  They reseed every year, although I've never been able to get one started from purchased seeds.

23 comments:

  1. I like the spider lilies a lot more then the bleeding heart amaranth. Glad the mystery has been solved.

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  2. Glad the mystery is solved. I've never seen one of those plants!

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  3. LOVE your spider lily; so colorful! :)

    It's always nice to be able to solve a mystery!

    xoxo

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  4. I have wondered for a while now what that flower is in your header. It is a beautiful plant.

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  5. I was just going to ask you what the flower in your header is. A friend of mine dug up a small one and gave it to me to plant. I planted it over on my son's land near a big rock he 'planted' on his lot. (That's another story) I had no idea what it was going to look like, but it bloomed a few days ago and it looks just like your flower you have in the header. I hope our Spider Lady reseeds itself. They are pretty.

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  6. Well, I learned something. I had no idea what kind of plant it was. Glad to hear the mystery has been solved.

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  7. It isn't often I'm able to help identify plants when someone has a 'mystery', so I was really glad to be able to this time! I thought that plant in your header was a Cleome. I've grown them before and found they broadcast their seed and will come back every year all by themselves.

    Amaranth, the named varieties like Love Lies Bleeding, Hopi Red Dye, Joseph's Coat, and so many more, don't have thorns and are very nutritious, the grain being high in protein and the leaves being high in vitamin A and C. I have one little Love Lies Bleeding in the garden, I'm hoping to get enough seeds that I can broadcast thickly and get some in the habit of self-seeding. My Hopi Red Dye amaranth comes up in the garden somewhere every year now, enough that was actually able to harvest some of the seed last fall for use in the kitchen. I want to try adding it to bread dough and see if I like it (but also whether Hubs will eat it), but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Since it historically has been used as a dye plant, I'm concerned that the seeds might make pink bread, and I know that wouldn't go over very well with Hubs. Heh.

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    1. Ilene, the spider lily and cleome are the same thing. Last year I laid the old stems with their seeds in another location and they came up this spring. Like I said before, I've never been able to get them to come up from purchased seed.

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  8. Learned something new. Glad someone was able to identify it. I've never hear of it. It's getting more and more hot here . hope you're doing well and staying cool . Blessings

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  9. I love this beautiful flower. I didn't know its name, but it sure is pretty. I learned something new about this plant.

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  10. Hi Charlotte. Very interesting about the Love-Lies-Bleeding, isn't it? I am not too worried about mine getting out of control, but I can understand your hesitation. Your Cleome is amazing. I wish I had more space for annuals because if I did, (surprise, surprise) I'd grow the pink variety! :)

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  11. Those seeds have a mind of their own, don't they! Like mine and granddaughter planting the wildflower seeds; they didn't like us. But, I told her it was possible we started too late and perhaps they'll bloom next year. :)

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  12. This is a beautiful plant and I'm glad it's been identified. Learned something new!

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  13. Just checking in on you; hope you're well. :)

    xoxo

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  14. Hi there....thanks for visiting earlier...I noticed the flowers in your header right away as I plant them some years and not others...did not this year but here we call them Cleome ! :)

    I love them as do the bees! :)

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  15. I hope you're having a great summer and enjoying your lovely flowers.

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  16. hello, just dropped by to see what you are creating or growing.....hope all is well with you

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  17. Hey busy lady.........what is growing in your corner of the world?

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  18. Just dropping by to say hello. I'm glad your mystery flower is named. That's pretty neat. Your spider lilies are lovely.
    I hope you're having an enjoyable Summer. :)

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  19. Your header photo is beautiful ♥ Nice to meet you ♥

    summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

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  20. I hope you are well and getting ready for fall. I know there's a lot of work on the farm with the harvest season. Hope you had an awesome summer.

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  21. Charlotte, Here's a blog I discovered recently. She has this post that started out being about termites and ended up being about ants. Read the post just below it, too, about borax.

    http://tendingmygarden.com/blog/

    (You can delete this comment after you get the link, if you want, and I won't be offended. I didn't have your email address so this was the only way I could get it to you.)

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  22. Just dropped by to say hello.......hope all is going well

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