Every well-dressed garden needs one showstopper, and Dracula is hoping to be chosen for that role in your landscape. This incredible crested celosia sets a single, enormous bloom 6 to 7 inches long, facing upright with a rippled crest and rich color that deepens from blood red to midnight violet in the sunlight. If there’s a more dramatic plant anywhere, we’d like to see it.

The perfect size for pots, this annual reaches just 8 to 16 inches high (and much of that height is the bloom) and 8 to 12 inches wide. Set one into a 6-inch pot, let the gorgeous pointed leaves (veined in purple) spill over the sides, their tips upturned for a beautiful rosette effect. The bloom lasts for many weeks, so you will be able to enjoy Dracula over a long season.

Like its namesake, Dracula is very light sensitive. If you start the seed indoors, the foliage will be entirely green. It’s not until it is transplanted into the sun and the warmer, longer