Can You Dry the Amish White Cockscomb for Seed?

Seed Production

• Crested cockscomb produces seeds deep in the flower head beneath the obvious undulated velvety surface flowers. The seeds form within papery husks and aren't evident until they are mature, shiny black and rubbed loose from their dry husks. Grow only Amish white cockscomb in your garden so the seeds will breed true. Don't plant other celosias, such as plumed celosia, nearby, since these will cross with crested forms to produce seeds of variable flower shapes and colors.

Seed Collection

• When flower heads are fully expanded toward the end of summer, choose the nicest flower heads with good form and whitest color. Cut them from the mother plant, leaving a stem long enough for handling. Hang the flower heads upside down in a warm shady area with good air circulation and let them dry. When the flowers are crisp and dry, take them to a clean, dry work surface covered with clean paper. Gently hand-crush the flower heads, rubbing the areas of the flower stem below the conspicuous flowers. The small black seeds and the surrounding chaff will fall to the paper. Winnow or sift the chaff from the seeds.

Cultivation

• Amish white cockscomb needs warm temperatures to germinate. Plant the seeds in a rich, well-drained soil after all danger of frost is past and keep the soil moist. Seeds should germinate in about a week if the soil temperature is between 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Thin seedlings to 6 to 12 inches apart when they are 3 to 4 inches tall. In the garden, cockscomb grows in most soil types as long as the drainage is good and the location has full sun to partial shade. Once established, the plants tolerate heat and drought.

Origin

• Cockscomb celosias are unknown in the wild and are thought to have originated in cultivation, probably in Asia. Crested cockscombs are recorded as growing in European gardens in 1570 and are now grown worldwide. In North America, they were growing in American gardens by 1737. They were a favorite in early Amish gardens. In her book about the Amish, "Plain Answers About the Amish Life," Mindy Clark explains that the presence of cockscomb flowers outside a house often indicates that an Amish family lives there. Cockscomb flowers were a popular motif in Amish folk art, featured in quilts from the 1800s.