Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 87 Entries. Thursday, June 3 View Page tallest Amaranthus australis as of June 3rd at 57 inches tall with a 10 inch stem circumference and leaves 13-14 inches long Thursday, June 3 View Page elecampane leaf at nearly 3 feet long. This elecampane (Inula helenium) took three years to flower. It's sending up flower stalks now. The leaves on this thing are all between 2 to 3 feet long. Thursday, June 3 View Page Longest leaf on my 57 inch tall giant amaranth (Amaranthus australis) at 14 inches long Thursday, June 3 View Page stalk of the 57 inch tall giant amaranth (Amaranthus australis). The circumference on this stalk is 10 inches. Thursday, June 3 View Page Close up of the top growth of the giant amaranth Thursday, June 3 View Page Some Tehua corn along the back of my house. I'm off to a faster start this year than last year. Hopefully I will get much higher than the 25 feet 9 inches I had last year. Thursday, June 3 View Page Close up of the Tehua corn. Thursday, June 3 View Page tallest hybrid amaranth (tidalmarsh X giant) at 67 inches tall. This plant currently has a stalk 12 inches in circumference. Thursday, June 3 View Page 12 inch stem circumference on a hybrid tidalmarsh X giant amaranth at 67 inches tall Sunday, June 13 View Page A. hybridus X A. australis stalk at 16 inches in circumference. Sunday, June 13 View Page This amaranth is from seed saved from a A. australis on 2008. I suspect it crossed with a tidalmarsh X australis hybrid since it's growing very fast. On 6/13/10 it was about 6'4". Currently this is the fastest growing plant in the garden. A day later it probably grew another 5 inches or more. Sunday, June 13 View Page tidalmarsh X giant amaranth hybrid. This plant is the tallest in the garden, but it's not growing as fast as some other plants; so I suspect it will lose the top status sooner or later. When the picture was taken it was 6 feet 8 inches. Sunday, June 13 View Page tallest pure giant amaranth. This plant was from seed saved in 2007. Plant is a little over 6 feet tall. Sunday, June 13 View Page Picture of some different accessions of Tehua maize from southern Mexico. Monday, June 21 View Page stalk from my tallest (~8 ft.) giant amaranth (Amaranthus australis) Monday, June 21 View Page 18 inch stalk from a hybrid tidalmarsh X giant amaranth (A. cannabinus X A. australis). Plant is over 8 feet tall. Monday, June 21 View Page elecampane flower from a 8 ft. plant Monday, June 21 View Page elecampane leaf over 3 feet long Monday, June 21 View Page corn and amaranth along the back of the house. Monday, June 21 View Page tall tehua maize plant at about 7 feet tall. This one plant really took off. I've never grown this particular accession before; so hopefully it is similar to the other accession from last year that does not exert a tassle in my growing season. If this is the case, then this plant should keep growing until November or so. Monday, June 21 View Page stalk from the tallest tehua corn plant at about 7 feet tall. Monday, June 21 View Page picture of the garden next to the garage. One amaranth in the back really took off and is probably one of the tallest in the garden. It was from seed I saved from a A. australis in '08. Tuesday, June 29 View Page (tidalmarsh amaranth) Amaranthus cannabinus X (giant amaranth) Amaranthus australis hybrid stalk over 18 inch in circumference Tuesday, June 29 View Page giant amaranths (Amaranthus australis) along the back of the house Tuesday, June 29 View Page giant amaranth along the garage. Tuesday, June 29 View Page german X craven sunflower along the back of the house. Tuesday, June 29 View Page Amaranthus hybridus X Amaranthus australis in the main garden. This is the tallest amaranth in the main garden. This plant should produce red flowers that are sterile. Tuesday, June 29 View Page Some Montanas maize from Columbia and some Amaranthus hybridus X Amaranthus australis plants Thursday, July 15 View Page 24 inch stalk from a tidalmarsh X giant amaranth hybrid Thursday, July 15 View Page close up of a 7 inch circumference stalk on some Tehua maize. Thursday, July 15 View Page another shot of the 7 inch stalk of Tehua maize. Thursday, July 15 View Page One of my Tehua maize plants broke it's leaf whorl. The plant just sat for a month at about a foot tall, but now it's starting to develop multiple branches out of where the plant broke. This plant probably won't do much, but just keeping it around out of curiosity. Thursday, July 15 View Page Another picture of the corn and amaranth along the back of the house. Thursday, July 15 View Page self-sown sunflower along the garage Thursday, July 15 View Page Tehua maize plants along the garage Thursday, July 15 View Page same Tehua corn, but from a different angle Thursday, July 15 View Page giant amaranth over a foot taller than the garage gutter Friday, July 16 View Page Picture of the amaranth and corn along the back of the house. Tuesday, July 20 View Page One of my daughters standing next to the giant amaranth (Amaranthus australis) and various corn races (Tehua, Montanas, Pira Naranja, Puya Grande) along the back of the house Tuesday, July 20 View Page Another picture of my daughter standing along the back of the house between some Tehua maize. Tuesday, July 20 View Page Close up of my daughter with the Tehua maize. Although this stalk is very thick, it's actually not the largest. I have one stalk near my garage that is already 8 inches in circumference. Tuesday, July 20 View Page tidalmarsh X giant amaranth stalk at 24 inches Tuesday, July 20 View Page tidalmarsh X giant amaranth stalk at 24 inches Tuesday, July 20 View Page My 4 year old daughter standing under a German X Craven sunflower Tuesday, July 20 View Page My 4 year old daughter standing next to a self-sown sunflower Tuesday, July 20 View Page Self-sown sunflower Tuesday, July 20 View Page Currently the tallest giant amaranth in the garden (Amaranthus australis). This was from seed saved in 2008. Tuesday, July 20 View Page Tallest hybridus X giant amaranth cross in the main garden. During the heatwave a few weeks ago, where we had several days over a 100 degrees, this plant actually collapsed. There were two large splits in the stem near the base of the plant and I found the plant flat on the ground when I came home. I propped it back up and used metal tree twist ties to put pressure on the splits at the base. The splits sealed up and the plant started growing again. AMAZING! Wednesday, July 28 View Page Holding a self-sown sunflower from my second story window. This plant grew to about 15 feet tall. Wednesday, July 28 View Page Mexican Tehua maize stalk at 8 inches Thursday, July 29 View Page Various accessions of Tehua maize along the trellis. This corn was my best performer last year with plants averaging about 25 feet. Hopefully I will get the same results this year. Thursday, July 29 View Page Tehua maize along the back of my house. This plant is currently the tallest maize at about ~10 feet, but there is damage on the leaf whorl; so unless I see some improvement then I doubt this one will get very tall. Thursday, July 29 View Page A bulky self-sown sunflower in the parsley patch. Monday, August 9 View Page My daughter standing under a Amaranthus hybridus X Amaranthus australis Monday, August 9 View Page Amaranthus australis growing next to the garage Monday, August 9 View Page Daughter standing next to giant corn and amaranth plants along the back of the house Monday, August 9 View Page Another picture along the back of the house Monday, August 9 View Page Another angle of the giant corn and amaranth along the back of the house Monday, August 9 View Page Yet another picture of the corn and amaranth along the back of the house. Monday, August 9 View Page Picture of some of my giant maize taken from the second story window Monday, August 9 View Page Another picture of my giant corn from the second story window Monday, August 9 View Page close up of my daughter standing next to the giant corn. Monday, August 9 View Page My daughter standing in front of some Tehua corn from southern Mexico Monday, August 16 View Page Looking up at a really large Tehua maize plant Monday, August 16 View Page Plants just about to the gutter along the back of the house. Monday, August 16 View Page Close up of some of the Tehua maize along the back of the house. Some of the red Amaranthus cruentus (left) did very well this year. Monday, August 30 View Page Some of my Tehua maize along the garage. It's between 20-21 feet tall Monday, August 30 View Page My twin daughters standing under some of my tall corn. Tallest is probably 22 feet or so. Monday, August 30 View Page shot of all the plants along the back of the house. A couple amaranth are up to the gutter above the second story and some of the corn is above the gutter. Thursday, September 30 View Page Picture of a hybrid amaranth (A. hybridus X A. australis) around 21-22 feet tall. The plant was just starting to flower. Probably had another foot or so of growth left. There is a 6 ft. ladder next to the plant for scale. I took this picture before the tropical depression went up the east coast. This plant didn't make it and broke off about 6 ft. up later that day. Thursday, September 30 View Page a hybrid amaranth (A. hybridus X A. australis) along the back of the house. This plant was several feet over the second story gutter. Plant is probably 22-23 feet tall. This plant made it through the storm. Thursday, September 30 View Page Some Tehua maize along the back of the garage. These are actually several cornstalks tied together like a teepee to help keep the plants up during the storm. All of these corn stalks made it through the storm, but they bent over quite a bit. I still have to attempt to tie the back up straight. Thursday, September 30 View Page I believe this is a hybrid between a giant amaranth and a tidalmarsh amaranth. This plant is probably 22-23 feet tall. The flowers have made it really heavy; so it's leaning over the roof of the garage. This barely made it through the storm and it bent over really far now. Thursday, September 30 View Page This is actually not a picture of corn, but of teosinte. It's very similar to corn, and can even cross with corn. It may have even been the ancestor to modern corn. It's actually two plants in the picture. One on each side of the trellis. Unlike corn, teosinte produces many stalks on a single plant. These plants are about 10-11 feet tall. Last year my plants were about 15 feet, but they fell over during a storm. This teosinte is a native of guatemala. I've never been able to get it to produce seed grown in the yard because it's very photoperiod sensitive. This particular type is called Zea mays subsp. huehuetenangensis Thursday, September 30 View Page Picture of some Tehua corn along the back of my house. There are several plants tied together and then tied tight up against the house; so they are not standing up straight. They are probably 22-23 feet or so tall right now. Thursday, September 30 View Page Another picture of the corn along the back of my house tied up against the house. All these plants made it through the storm Thursday, September 30 View Page Looking straight up at a large hybrid amaranth (A. hybridus X A. australis). The trellis is 17 feet tall, and the amaranth is several feet higher than the trellis. This amaranth was tipped over a bit from the last storm. It made it through the last storm though. Thursday, September 30 View Page close up of the corn along the back of my house before I tied it together for the storm. Corn is probably 22 feet or more. They are learning over now and I have to straighten them up, but they made it through the storm. Thursday, October 14 View Page We've had heavy winds the past few days with 20+ mph winds with 40-50 mph gusts. Almost all of my plants made it through, with the exception of some corn that didn't make it. This is an amaranth growing along side the 17 ft. trellis. I thought this was one of my hybrid amaranth, but the flowers are starting to appear and they are green. Have to wait and see if it's sterile or not and then I know what type of amaranth it is. Thursday, October 14 View Page Everything along the back of the house was sheltered from the winds; so everything made it along the house. Thursday, October 14 View Page These plants bent over from the winds the night before. Today on 10/16/10, three plants fell over completely. I was able to get a measurement of these plants: Tehua 22 feet 3 inch w/ tassle Tehua 22 feet 1 inch no tassle Tehua 22 feet 9 inch w/ tassle & 8 inch stem circumference including 17 feet 10 inch tiller w/ tassle Thursday, October 14 View Page Some Tehua maize in the main garden. One plant looks like it has some more growing to do; so hopefully I get some more out of it. There is a really large Montanas maize that is tipped over and leaning against the 17 foot trellis in the back. Thursday, October 14 View Page Close up of some Tehua maize along the second story gutter on the back of my house. There are three plants tied together up against the gutter that have yet to exert tassles. The plants to the right are also Tehuas, but the one with the tassle is a different accession that I got from Mexico. Thursday, October 14 View Page Same Tehua corn, but looking at it from a distance. Thursday, October 14 View Page Another Tehua maize plant on the other end of the house. This one has yet to exert a tassle. Sunday, October 31 View Page Measured all of my corn plants today. I did not break my personal best of 25 feet 9 inches. Maybe next year! First time I tried Pira Naranja, which is a popcorn from Columbia. Doesn't seem to get quite as tall as Montana or Tehua, but it is definitely worth growing again. Here are the results: Tehua 24'8" w/ tassle Tehua 24'0" w/ tassle Tehua-9 23'7" w/ tassle Tehua 23'6" no tassle Montana Blanco 23'3" w/ tassle Montana Blanco 23'1" w/ tassle Tehua 22'9" w/ tassle - 8" stem circum. & 17'10" tiller w/ tassle Tehua 22'7" w/ tassle Tehua 22'5" w/ tassle & 18'4" tiller no tassle Tehua 22'3" w/ tassle Tehua 22'1" no tassle Tehua-9 21'5" w/ tassle Montana Seg. 21'5" w/ tassle Tehua 21'0" w/ tassle Tehua-9 20'7" w/ tassle Tehua 20'3" no tassle Tehua 20'2" no tassle Montana Blanco 20'1" w/ tassle Pira Naranja 19'2" w/ tassle & tiller 19'10" w/ tassle & tiller 19'8" w/ tassle Pira Naranja 18'6" w/ tassle & tiller 17'2" w/ tassle & tiller 13'7" w/ tassle Friday, December 3 View Page Finally got around to measuring most of my amaranth, but this is not a complete list. A. australis 23 feet 4 inch w/ 18 inch stem circ. (male) A. australis 23 feet 4 inch w/ 18 inch stem circ. (female w/ seeds) A. hybridus X A. australis 23 feet 0 inch (sterile hybrid) A. hybridus X A. australis 22 feet 6 inch (sterile hybrid) A. hybridus X A. australis 21 feet 10 inch (sterile hybrid) A. australis 21 feet 9 inch w/ 2 feet 8 inch circ. (no flowers - sex ?) A. australis 21 feet 4 inch (female w/ seeds) A. australis 20 feet 10 inch (female w/ seed) A. australis 20 feet 9 inch (male) A. australis 19 feet 11 inch w/ 14 inch circ. (sex ? - starting to form buds) A. australis 18 feet 1 inch w/ 25 inch stem circ. (sex ? - no flowers) A. hybridus 16 feet 7 inches - flowers, but no seeds