Celosia is the workhorse of summer flower farmer fields. It’s prolific, responds well to pinching and fulfills both the spike and filler categories for bouquets. As a dependable field-grown crop, it leaves space in tunnels for higher value focal flowers.
As it can be used as both a fresh and dried flower, I worry less about succession planting than with other plants. It’s not necessarily your best friend, but a rather reliable and familiar acquaintance worth keeping in your social circle.
There are several varieties of celosia. The most well know is the cristata (or cockscomb). The mature blooms are velvety and textural mounds that are actually formed by fans growing back and forth across themselves. These can be used as focal flowers, or like hydrangea, function as mass of filler.
There are varieties, such as Bombay, that do not branch and are best as single stems, but others can be pinched and used as fans in mixed bouquets. The plumosa version, also considered plume varieties, are feathery but spiky fillers. The spicata (or wheat) celosia add textured spike accents to bouquets and arrangements.
I don’t have a favorite cristata variety because I find them hard to grow into combs with our short Central New York season. When I focused on bouquet making, these were not particularly useful fresh especially because as they grew back and forth that included the stem, also making them too thick to be practical. I would cut them earlier as fans. As a dried flower, they provide a nice filler in arrangements so I order them from farms farther south.
I adore both the plumosa and spicata types. My favorite plumes are the Texas Plume and Sylphid varieties for pastel colors and use in bouquets. The wheat Celway™ series, ‘Flamingo Feather’ and ‘Ruby Parfait’ are my go-to spikes in mixed bouquets. Celway Terracotta is the one I would grow if I wasn’t allowed to grow any others.
I also love the ‘Hi-Z’ variety of magenta mixed shapes but have found it very hard to find seed. (I’m hoping someone will revive this variety.) It also succeeds in being one of the first to form blooms in the season, making it very valuable to a bouquet program.
It’s important to understand which varieties grow to the right length for cutting. In greenhouses in spring, Dragon’s Breath® is commonly carried as a great bedding plant with short stems and a cut-and-come-again habitat.
According to the tech sheets provided by Johnny’s Selected Seeds, celosia thrives in full sun and well-drained soil of at least 60º. Too much water causes premature flowering on short stems. They are also very temperature sensitive. One year I had an entire planting of ‘Chief’ cockscomb and ‘Pampas Plume’ revert to very short stems. I harvested them anyway and made mini teapot arrangements that worked well in my CSA shares. They seemed special enough but also were more work than a mixed bouquet.
Although celosia produces a lot of seed and, when allowed to go to seed in bed will sprout in following years profusely, it’s still recommended that it be started inside and transplanted out as it does not respond well to the cool soil and short days of autumn. Both plume and wheat varieties branch well and adapt to pinching when young plants reach eight inches. Since they are so sensitive to cold nights and day length, succession planting is limited to six weeks past the last frost date.
Celway Terracotta celosia – a true standout. Photo by Betsy Busche
Powdery mildew and various other fungi are the obvious diseases to watch for and can be controlled by spacing. Since they pinch and branch so well, I keep a foot distance between plants, otherwise they tangle and are harder to harvest. The optimum stage of harvest is when they have filled out but before dropping seed. This is the same for both fresh and dry use, so it makes sense to clear-cut a planting when ready (and bunching to dry any that are not used in fresh bouquets).
In the years we’ve had a last frost past mid-October, the plants bounced back and produced an entire second bloom that I was able to dry.
Another huge advantage to this crop is that there are few pests that are going to wipe out a planting. Scouting for the usual suspects, such as aphids and thrips, keep plants healthy.
Dried celosia is a great filler for every purpose, from wreaths to confetti. The colors that dry the best are red and magenta. Others fade quickly, meaning in months instead of years. I grow and cut Celway Terracotta and Sylphid because, even faded, they make a great addition to pale and natural arrangements. I have a box of ‘Ruby Parfait’ dried three years ago in my studio kept away from light and heat that is still as viable as it was after initially drying.
Because they seed so excessively, breeding of celosia is easier than some other flowers. New varieties can be stabilized and brought to the seed market in five to eight years as opposed to at least a decade of selection and stabilization. Most of these plume types are mixes chosen for specific color combinations offered as mixes. The Texas Plume mix was developed by Frank Arnosky of Texas. Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Floret Flowers are also producing new combinations of plume pastel blooms perfect for both bouquet and wedding production.
Every flower farm should be growing some version of celosia. The plume versions are the easiest for beginners to incorporate in any floral product. My personal favorites are the wheat types, pinched and cut just as the second blooms on the stem emerge. Florists request the cockscomb, so if you are able to produce the full comb, that is a great market.
(Sometimes when I have just fans, I add googly eyes to create puppets that are an excellent ice breaker at farmers markets.)
Whichever path you take, consider adding celosia to your crop plan.
