Leafy Green
Chinese Multicolor Spinach Amaranth is a heat-loving leafy green that transforms the garden with spectacular splashes of color across its foliage. Known as xian cai in China and bireum in Korea, this heirloom variety has thrived in Asian gardens for millennia, offering both ornamental appeal and remarkable nutritional value. Ready to harvest in just 40 days, it reaches a compact 4-6 inches tall, making it perfect for containers, borders, or quick succession plantings. Eat it raw, stir-fried, or steamed; the plant handles drought and heat that would wilt ordinary spinach.
Full Sun
Moderate
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6in H x ?in W
Annual
Moderate
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This amaranth glows with jewel-toned leaves in reds, yellows, and greens simultaneously, turning your plate as visually striking as it is nutritious. Its compact, bushy habit and rapid 40-day maturity make it one of the fastest greens to harvest, while its genuine heat and drought tolerance mean it thrives when other greens bolt or languish. The leaves are tender enough for raw salads yet sturdy enough to stand up to stir-frying, giving you flexibility in the kitchen that few greens offer.
Eat the tender leaves raw in salads for a mild, slightly earthy flavor and vibrant visual impact, or cook them down in stir-fries where they wilt beautifully and develop a deeper taste. Steam the whole young plant, dress it with sesame oil and garlic, or add it to soups and broths in the final minutes of cooking to preserve its delicate texture. The multicolored foliage makes it as useful as a garnish or ornamental edible as it is a straightforward side vegetable.
Start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before your last frost date in flats or small pots, keeping soil temperature at 70-85°F. Seedlings emerge in 7-10 days and are ready to transplant in 3-4 weeks when they develop their first true leaves.
Harden off seedlings over 7-10 days before transplanting outdoors after all frost danger has passed and soil has warmed to at least 60°F. Space plants 6 inches apart in rows. The multicolored foliage emerges as plants mature, so the most vibrant color develops in the weeks after transplanting.
Direct sow seeds outdoors after soil has warmed to 70°F and all frost danger has passed. Sow seeds thinly and keep soil consistently moist until germination.
Begin harvesting outer leaves once plants reach 4-6 inches tall, typically around 40 days from seed. Pinch or cut individual leaves from the base of the plant, or harvest the entire young plant when it reaches full size. The leaves are most tender when young; harvest frequently to encourage continued leaf production and to prevent the plant from concentrating energy into flowering. The spectacular multicolored foliage is most vivid in mature plants, so allow some plants to develop fully for maximum visual impact.
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“Recent archaeological and botanical research has revealed a remarkable truth: the amaranth growing in Asian kitchens today is genetically identical to the amaranth that fed civilizations in the Americas for thousands of years. This suggests that amaranth did not simply arrive in Asia after Columbus, but rather existed there independently for millennia, making Chinese Multicolor Spinach Amaranth a living bridge between two ancient agricultural traditions. To some seed savers and ethnobotanists, its presence across continents stands as a profound testament to the sophistication and reach of pre-Columbian trade and cultivation networks, or perhaps to deeper human connections across vast distances than conventional history has long acknowledged.”