Flame Proof, Perfect Score All Season, Leader of the Packand Top Performer are just a few of the award designations for Truffula Pink Gomphrena. It has now taken in 50 such trophies. If your state has a flower trial competition, my guess is Truffula Pink has been a winner. I also believe that as the pandemic evaporates and we achieve a modicum of normality, the number of trophies will continue to mount. If you don’t know, Truffula Pink, it is a globe amaranth. It is almost always grown as an annual that reaches about 24 inches tall and almost as wide. You can’t give it too much sun. It is possible it might be perennial in zones 9 and warmer. I live in 8a and had a patch that was perennial for me for a couple of years. I’ll explain its demise.
I planted it in 2019. It returned in 2020 and was awesome. I never realized I planted it in conjunction with a chipmunk thoroughfare. In 2021, my grand-dog, Alli — a 120-pound Dutch Shepherd — came to live with me for a year. Her sole existence became to rid Granddad of the chipmunks. The Truffula Pink area became pulverized. Today, the chipmunks live happily and have found new joy in torturing Tootie the Bichon.
In a way, this year seemed like a second coming out party. It wasn’t with fanfare, but if you had your eyes open you probably muttered a “Holy Wow” once or twice. One such moment was no doubt at Mississippi State University’s industry day at the Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, Miss. It was like, “Why didn’t I think of that moment?” Right out in the full scorching summer sun of central Mississippi was Truffula Pink gomphrena standing so stately over this year’s hot new Augusta Lavender heliotrope. The lavender blue and hot pink were a perfect partnership.
