Back in February I was at my friend Kathy's house taking rose cuttings and I saw this amazing plant in bloom in her garden. She told me that it was Gomphrena "Fireworks". Say GOM-free-NA. I promptly went home and looked it up on the internet. It is from the Amaranth family and native to the tropical Americas, Australia and Asia. I found plants only sold at Annie's Annuals up in the San Francisco Bay area but it wasn't available then. I put it on my wishlist and waited. It was probably May when it became available and I mail ordered one plant of it(expensive with shipping) plus a couple others. I planted it in the ground and it is doing fabulous, blooming almost since I got it. It is about 3 feet tall now.
Flash forward to last week when I was at my local Armstrong Garden Center and what do I see, a whole flat of 4" pots of that Gomphrena "Fireworks". Now, it's the dog days of summer, 90º out and I shouldn't be planting. But I was pissed off that it was so difficult to get back in winter and here it is so easy to get now! Ugh, so I bought another. Had I a bunch of money I would have bought 10 as it's an amazing plant that makes great cut flower filler too! Said to be an annual, I hope it lasts longer than just this year.
Happy gardening!
Hi Aprille , yes , 'Fireworks' in one fabulous bloomer. It should have no problem overwintering in your SoCal climate as it overwinters here in the Bay Area . Plus it self sows - so you should get some freebies . They are not generally available in the early season ( we've tried!) as the seedlings refuse to grow during cold weather and short days .
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Thanks so much Annie :-)
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