It’s not often that a raved-about cut flower crosses over into the landscape world with ease, but such is the case with the Celway series of celosias. The Celway series, known botanically as Celosia spicata, comes in seven colors. Look for salmon, terra cotta, purple, red, orange, lemon and white.
If you get a little confused on your celosia groups, this is the one commonly called flamingo feather. Note, however, this one does do a little unique branching. You will treasure not only the vibrant color but also the tough-as-nails performance in the landscape.
Should you be on rotation to bring flowers to your local church or garden club, you’ll also like knowing these little workhorses will give you around 10 days of vase life.
Celosias need to be used in the landscape much more often. Feathery plumes, cockscombs or wheatlike flowers like these are all types of flowers produced by celosias. The flowers are produced from summer through fall, withstanding drought and extreme summer temperatures.
The Celway celosia will be a valuable source of color in the summer landscape when a lot of flowers are looking tired. In addition to being a great cut flower, they can be seen as an everlasting because they are also well-suited to drying and using in dried-flower arrangements.
Celway reaches just over 36 inches in the garden, producing flowers that consist of one central spiky plume surrounded by several smaller spikes. Before planting, know that wet, soggy soils are lethal to celosia, so amend if soil drainage is suspect. Select healthy growing transplants with few buds showing or direct seed into warm soil. You’ll also get a lot more blooms if you choose a sunny location.
Before planting, incorporate two pounds of a slow-release fertilizer (such as a 12-6-6 with minor nutrients) per 100 square feet of bed area. Space the plants 10 to 15 inches apart. A popular trend of late is to scatter or broadcast the seeds with other flowers to create a meadowlike look. To dry for winter arrangements harvest before seed-set, strip the foliage and hang upside down in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place.
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Celosia is not a flower to be spot-planted but massed for the most effective landscape display. Plant them in combination with other drought-tolerant flowers. The colorful, plumelike flowers are showiest in front of a backdrop of green shrubbery. The wheat-formed selections give a light, airy, native-prairie look to the landscape and combine well with gomphrena and ornamental grasses. They can also be used effectively in a tropical style garden.
Forever young
Celosia, or cockscomb, is just one of many flowers that lend themselves to the art of drying. Go to the website of the University of Missouri Extension (
extension.missouri.edu
and type “drying flowers” in the search field) to learn more about this classic craft.