Setaria italica Red Jewel Seeds - Foxtail millet

Setaria italica 'Red Jewel' is a beautiful annual grass with an architectural silhouette and dark colours. Its inflorescences are trailing reddish-purple spikes, emerging in summer from dark purple to brown foliage. This variety comes from a species nicknamed "panis", "bird millet" or "little millet", whose seeds feed aviary birds. Very decorative in bouquets, borders, or containers, this foxtail millet combines beautifully with other colourful annuals. It grows in the sun in well-drained, even sandy soil.

Foxtail millet is an annual herbaceous plant from the Poaceae family, probably native to India or China, cultivated as a cereal in many countries. It sometimes escapes from gardens. 'Red Jewel' is a particularly colourful form. It does not form clumps but develops leafy stems. When in bloom, this plant reaches a height of up to 1 m. Its leaves are 1-2 cm wide, with hairy sheaths at their base, initially green, turning dark purple with brown highlights over time. Flowering occurs in summer, from July to September, depending on the sowing date. It takes the form of trailing panicles in the shape of spikes measuring 25 cm in length. They have coloured bristles in a mix of red and purple tones. The plant dies at the end of the season after producing its seeds. Foxtail millet takes about 2 months to produce its seeds after pollination. To obtain them, autumn must be long and mild.

Setaria italica 'Red Jewel', like the more well-known Pennisetum x advena 'Rubrum', has a very nice effect in borders, where it colours and lightens. Its dark and rich colours harmonise particularly well with the silver foliage of wormwoods, the green foliage of lady's mantles, the flowering of euphorbias, corncockles or Sedum 'Purple Emperor', for example. In flower pots, this grass can accompany pink or blue petunias or pink or red begonias.