Some gomphrenas mayt be perennials, but only in frost-free climates.

They're far, far, happier in full, all-day blazing sun than in any amount of shade, at least in my area (Illinois, SW MIchigan). Here, they will barely survive in part shade, and scarecely flower at all. The west Texas sun may be a bit hotter and more intense, but your days are also shorter. The popular red "Strawberry Fields" gomphrena is actually a hybrid of a native Texas species.

thanks for the info, that really helps. I do have one question however, when you say our days are shorter, do you mean from sun up to sun down? I have heard people talking about stuff like that but I thought that we had long days down here? :)

Carly

It's sunup to sundown.

The farther north you go, the longer the longest summer day gets and the longer the winter nights, until you get midnight sun up at the arctic circle. As you go south, the days tend to be closer to 12 hours long throughout the year.

Wow! I didn't know that, that probably makes me sound pretty stupid! I knew that places like Alaska and up there had either really long nights or really long days at different times of the year but I guess I thought that everybody else had days like we do. I guess I am showing the fact that I haven't really travelled all that much!! :)
Well, they say you learn something new every day!
Thanks for all the info,

Carly

I've always known Gomphrena as an annual but might possibly be perennial where it never freezes. If you want nice dried flowers pick them as soon as they open to full bloom and just tie them and hang bottom side up. They don't need any special care and will keep their colors nmicely when dry. If you want you can remove the stem and insert a wire where the stem was so you can use them in arrangments or where ever when dry. Have fun!

I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and I did have Strawberry Fields gomphrena reseed and come up this year.
I grow it in full sun.

I LOVE Gomphrena, the strawberry field variety does super here and I live in West Texas and my Gomphrena thrives in full, no shade HOT HOT sun even when it's 105 for 10 days in a row. I do water it some though about every other day in that kind of heat.

What I can't figure out is how to get it to grow from seed. I am having a terrible time trying to get it to seed outdoors. I have tried putting it 1/8 in and covering it with dirt and I have tried sewing on top of the ground and it has just refused to come up. What could I be doing wrong? I wait till April to put it in and there is no freezes here in April. What in the world am I doing wrong that I can't get it to come up?