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Globe amaranth

Carl Lewis / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0

Globe amaranth

Gomphrena globosa

Globe amaranth is a warm-season annual in the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), grown for its round, clover-like flower heads of papery, long-lasting bracts: bright magenta in the species (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), with cultivars in purple, pink, red, lilac, violet, and white. The true flowers are tiny white to yellow trumpets tucked among the bracts. Kew's WCVP gives its native range as Mexico, Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), and tropical South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, and Brazil). NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden describe a compact, upright plant 6 to 24 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide that flowers from June until frost, takes heat and drought once established, and makes a classic everlasting: the heads keep their color when cut and dried. It is frost-tender. NC State Extension rates it winter hardy only in USDA zones 9 to 11, where it can be grown as a perennial; everywhere else it is sown or planted after the last frost and grown for a single summer, which is why both sources list it as an annual for zones 2 to 11. It is a Gomphrena, not an Amaranthus: the amaranth in its name is the family it shares with love-lies-bleeding and the grain amaranths. It also shares the name bachelor's button with the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), a different plant.

Climate fit: moderate (60/100)

Border

Filler

Container

Pollinator

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

6-24" tall · 12-18" apart

Life cycle

True annual (one season)

Bloom period

Summer

Native in Illinois

No

Related products

Cold hardiness

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

Plotwright

USDA Zone 6b

-5°F to 0°F

Well-suited

2050

2100

Zone 7a

Plotwright

0°F to 5°F

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 45 ecoregions - 45 climate-resilient through 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

12-18"

Habit

Compact, dense, erect to rounded warm-season annual on upright branching stems

Care tips

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Wait for warm weather: globe amaranth is frost-tender, so sow seed or set out plants only after the last frost date (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

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Sow generously, because germination can be low (NC State Extension; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), or start seed indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost for earlier bloom.

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Give it full sun and well-drained soil and go easy on the water: it tolerates heat and drought once established, and UF/IFAS warns that it should not be overwatered.

Lifecycle

Planting

Grow in average, well-drained soil in full sun (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). NC State Extension says it thrives in moist, well-drained, fertile, acidic soil and tolerates clay, and UF/IFAS lists acidic, sandy, loam, and clay soils among its tolerances. It is frost-tender, so sow seed in the garden or set out plants only after the last frost date. UF/IFAS gives planting months of June to August in zone 7, May to September in zone 8, and April to September in zone 9.

Transplanting

For earlier bloom, start seed indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder; NC State Extension). Germination can be low, so sow generously (both sources). Set seedlings or purchased cell-pack plants out after the last frost, about 12 to 18 inches apart for a mass planting (UF/IFAS).

Early growth

Pinch young plants to make them bushier (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). Water seedlings while they establish; once going, the plant tolerates drought and dry soil but grows best with regular moisture through the season (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), and UF/IFAS warns that it should not be overwatered.

Maturity

A mature plant is a dense, erect to rounded clump 6 to 24 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide (NC State Extension; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), flowering from June until frost. Taller plants may need staking (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). NC State Extension reports no significant insect or disease problems, though cultivars can suffer gray mold, root rot, stem rot, powdery mildew, and leaf spots, and Missouri Botanical Garden notes that mildew may attack drought-stressed plants.

Propagation

Grown from seed (NC State Extension; UF/IFAS), sown directly after the last frost or started indoors 6-8 weeks earlier. The fruit is a tiny, dry achene that usually holds one seed (NC State Extension). For dried flowers, cut the heads just before they are fully open (UF/IFAS); they keep their color well once dried (NC State Extension; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

Zinnia elegans

Common zinnia

An old garden-favorite annual native to Mexico, grown for showy daisy-like flowers in nearly every color but true blue - red, yellow, orange, pink, rose, lavender, green, and white. Bushy, leafy plants rise on upright, hairy, branching stems and bloom continuously from early summer to frost. A magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds, and one of the most reliable cut-and-come-again cutting-garden flowers.

Jasmine tobacco, also sold as flowering tobacco, sweet tobacco, or winged tobacco, is a tender perennial in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) native to southern and southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. The true species grows 3 to 5 feet tall from a low rosette of large, hairy basal leaves with winged stalks, and from early summer to frost it carries long-tubed, star-faced flowers, white to greenish-yellow, that open in the evening and pour out a sweet scent through the night for moths. It is perennial only in USDA zones 10a-11b, so most gardeners grow it as a summer annual. Many plants sold as 'flowering tobacco' are compact hybrids (Nicotiana × sanderae and similar strains) up to 24 inches tall whose flowers open by day and are mostly unscented; for the night fragrance, grow the species from seed. Be aware that it is poisonous: every part of the plant contains nicotine, it is harmful if eaten, and the RHS advises gloves when handling it.

Annual

Full sun / Part shade

Aubrieta (Aubrieta deltoidea) is a low, mat-forming evergreen perennial in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to the rocky hillsides of southeastern Europe - primarily Greece, the Aegean Islands, Crete, and adjacent Mediterranean coasts. It is one of the most reliable spring-flowering ground covers for sunny, well-drained spots: cascading sheets of violet to deep pink four-petalled blooms from March through May, attractive to bees and bee flies. The honest catch is that without a hard cut-back immediately after flowering, plants become woody and bare in the centre within two or three years, collapsing from a tight carpet into a tired, gappy mat.

Felicia amelloides is an evergreen, woody-based perennial subshrub native to a narrow coastal strip of South Africa's Western and Eastern Cape, where it colonises stabilising sand dunes, sandy flats, and rocky outcrops at 0 to 3,280.8 feet. In the garden it delivers a near-continuous flush of sky-blue, yellow-centred daisy flowers on neat mounding growth, typically 12 to 24 inches but capable of reaching about 3.3 feet, making it one of the few true blue-flowered plants for sunny pots and borders. The honest catch is frost-tenderness: it survives only light frost in sharply drained soil and collapses below about 23°F, so outside USDA zones 9-11 it must be overwintered under glass or replaced annually - a real commitment in cool-temperate gardens.

Campanula carpatica is a low, mounding herbaceous perennial native to the rocky subalpine habitats of the Carpathian Mountains, ranging across Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine (Wikipedia). Its wide, upward-facing bell flowers in violet-blue, white, or pink appear from June through August, making it one of the longest-blooming edging perennials available, and it holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit. The honest catch is longevity: it tends to behave as a short-lived perennial, often thinning or declining after a few seasons, so gardeners should plan for regular division or fresh plants from seed to hold the planting.

Dianthus gratianopolitanus

Cheddar Pink

Cheddar pink is a low, mat-forming evergreen perennial pink (a Dianthus, not a true carnation) native to calcareous rock ledges and cliff faces across western and central Europe, from the protected population at Cheddar Gorge in England east to Ukraine. Its intensely clove-scented, fringed rose-pink flowers and blue-grey foliage make it one of the finest front-of-border edging plants in a sunny, sharply drained garden. The honest catch is drainage: in any soil that holds winter moisture the crown rots reliably, so it fails in heavy clay or irrigated beds and thrives only where drainage is sharp and the site stays dry underfoot in cold months.

Educator packet

Plant packet

Globe amaranth educator packet

Globe amaranth is a warm-season annual in the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), grown for its round, clover-like flower heads of papery, long-lasting bracts: bright magenta in the species (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), with cultivars in purple, pink, red, lilac, violet, and white. The true flowers are tiny white to yellow trumpets tucked among the bracts. Kew's WCVP gives its native range as Mexico, Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), and tropical South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, and Brazil). NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden describe a compact, upright plant 6 to 24 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide that flowers from June until frost, takes heat and drought once established, and makes a classic everlasting: the heads keep their color when cut and dried. It is frost-tender. NC State Extension rates it winter hardy only in USDA zones 9 to 11, where it can be grown as a perennial; everywhere else it is sown or planted after the last frost and grown for a single summer, which is why both sources list it as an annual for zones 2 to 11. It is a Gomphrena, not an Amaranthus: the amaranth in its name is the family it shares with love-lies-bleeding and the grain amaranths. It also shares the name bachelor's button with the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), a different plant.

Scientific name

Gomphrena globosa

Plant type

annual

Hardiness

2a-11b

Light

full-sun

Moisture

moderate

Spacing

12-18"