Love-lies-bleeding, also known as Amaranthus caudatus, is an annual plant. This means that it completes its life cycle within one growing season. Unlike perennial plants that can live for multiple years, love-lies-bleeding will die with frost and cold temperatures.
As a gardening and landscaping expert, I have had personal experiences with love-lies-bleeding in my own garden. I have found it to be a beautiful and unique addition to any landscape. Its long, drooping flower clusters in shades of red, burgundy, or purple create a captivating visual display.
One of the fascinating aspects of love-lies-bleeding is its ability to self-seed readily. This means that if you allow the plant to go to seed, you will likely see new plants emerge in the spring. This can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on your preferences and garden goals.
If you want to ensure a continuous presence of love-lies-bleeding in your garden, allowing the plant to go to seed is a great strategy. The seeds will scatter around the area, and with favorable conditions, they will germinate and grow into new plants. This natural self-seeding process can create a beautiful and effortless display of love-lies-bleeding year after year.
However, if you prefer to have more control over the location and density of love-lies-bleeding in your garden, it is advisable to deadhead the flowers before they produce seeds. Deadheading involves removing the spent flowers before they can develop into seed heads. By doing so, you can prevent the plant from self-seeding and spreading too aggressively.
In my own garden, I have experimented with both approaches. I love the surprise and spontaneity of having love-lies-bleeding pop up in unexpected places, so I often allow some plants to go to seed. This creates a natural, wild look in certain areas of my garden.
However, I also have specific areas where I want to maintain more control and order. In those areas, I make sure to deadhead the flowers to prevent excessive self-seeding. This allows me to have a more intentional and curated display of love-lies-bleeding.
To summarize, love-lies-bleeding is an annual plant that will die with frost and cold temperatures. However, it self-seeds readily, and you will likely see new plants in the spring if you allow your previous season’s plant to go to seed. Whether you choose to embrace its self-seeding nature or control its spread through deadheading is a matter of personal preference and the desired aesthetic in your garden.
