Celosia
Chinese Wool Flower

Brilliant blooms look like colorful tufts of yarn, setting landscapes and floral arrangements ablaze!

About Chinese Wool Flower

Brilliant blooms look like colorful tufts of yarn, setting landscapes and floral arrangements ablaze! This 2- to 3-foot-tall variety was a major standout in our trial gardens and is our new favorite flower! Baker Creek is delighted to reintroduce an all but forgotten edible ornamental and what we have found to be the most delicious flowering vegetable we have ever eaten! The fluffy and colorful heads of this amaranth family member are wildly colorful and make a bold everlasting flower for fresh or dried arrangements. But its delicate gourmet flavor really sets this apart as a remarkable edible ornamental. The young leaves are a perfect spinach substitute. In the Baker Creek trial kitchen, we have tried it tempura style, stir fried, added to soups, lasagna and pizza; the possibilities are endless! The greens are incredibly nutritious as well. They are a good source of vitamins A & C as well as calcium, iron, and other nutrients. Baker Creek founder Jere Gettle was intrigued when he saw advertisements for the Chinese wool flower in seed catalogs dating back to 1915. He had never seen the plants in real life, and upon researching, he realized they were no longer available anywhere in the U.S! We took our search abroad and finally tracked down a single seed packet in Japan. We are thrilled to finally be able to offer it to the public!