Celosia, Cockscomb, Feathered Amaranth, Plume Plant 'Fresh Look Red'

Originally box store plants and we grew them in a container.

The plants self-seeds and started to spread in the garden. ...Read More They are doing well - just don't let the soil dry out.

We are in zone 8a/8b (Central Hill Country Texas) and they will die back in the winter.

They seem to be free from fungus and not bothered by insects - for us - low maintenance.

'Fresh Look Red' is part of the Fresh Look cultivars due to its ability to look "fresh" all season long. It was a 2004 Gold Medal and ...Read MoreFlower Award AAS winner.

Botanica Encyclopedia
Celosia, Cockscomb, Chinese Woolflower
This genus of erect annuals, perennials and shrubs in the amar...Read Moreanthus family contains 50 or more species from warmer parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas, but only one (Celosia argentea) is widely cultivated as a bedding annual and for cut flowers. It has evolved in cultivation into several different forms, hardly recognizable as belonging to the one species. It has simple, soft, strongly veined leaves; the variation is almost wholly in the structure of the heads of the small flowers, which have undergone proliferation and deformation in the two major cultivated races.
Cultivation: In cool climates celosias are treated as conservatory plants, or planted out for summer bedding after raising seedlings under glass in spring. They are better adapted to hot climates, withstanding the fiercest summer heat. They require full sun, rich, well-drained soil and constant moisture. Propagate from seed in spring.
Celosia argentea syn Celosia cristata, C pyramidalis
Probably native to tropical Asia, this erect, summer-flowering annual can reach 3' or more in height. The leaves are mid-green; the silvery white flowers appear in summer in dense, erect, pointed spikes with a silvery sheen. The species is best known in the guise of two strikingly different cultivar groups, which in turn are hardly recognizable as belonging to the species. These are the PLUMOSA GROUP, with erect, plume-like heads of tiny deformed flowers in a range of hot colors, and the CROSTATA GROUP (cockscombs), with bizarre wavy crests of fused flower stalks also in many colors. Both have been developed in cultivation with a range of seedling strains, differing in height as well as size and the color of the flowerheads. The Plumosa Group in particular are favored for cut flowers and sale in pots for indoor decoration. Some dwarf strains are no more than 6" tall, while the old-fashioned bedding strains are about 24". Most strains are sold as mixed colors.