The morning that I was walking home while looking at the clouds, I took a slight detour to see what was going on at my favorite neighborhood gardener’s front yard. I met her briefly once when I was standing gawking, and learned that she grows nursery stock to sell to local stores. She obviously loves to plant all kinds of things for her own enjoyment as well, such as these poppies I wrote about one May; but last week my focus was on the gorgeous amaranth and its relatives.

I believe these are types of Quail Grass, Celosia argentea, which is in the amaranth family. I read that in some places, especially parts of Africa, it is “cultivated as a nutritious leafy green vegetable.” In Nigeria it is known as “soko yokoto,” meaning that it will “make husbands fat and happy.”

This garden also was lush with perfect dahlias, cosmos blooming extravagantly, and Hyacinth Beans. Do you know about these? The gardener had three arching trellises along the walk going to the front door, each with a different edible plant climbing on it. These are the hyacinth beans, which were on the arbor closest to the sidewalk:

I did manage to sprout amaranth seeds in my planter boxes once, but I think something ate them before they got very big. I wonder if my neighbor collects the seeds to eat? Maybe next year I will experiment by growing the usual amaranth and quail grass, too.

I no longer have a husband to feed, but if I get amaranth growing in my garden, any of you is welcome to come and pick a bunch to try out in your own kitchen and marriage.