Feb 01
Cosmos flowers are strongly associated with Mexico, and for good reason: Mexico is an important center of diversity for the genus and the birthplace of several of the cosmos species most commonly grown in gardens. However, saying simply that “cosmos flowers are native to Mexico” does not tell the whole story. The genus Cosmos has …
Feb 01
Cosmos flowers can grow anywhere from about 1 foot to more than 6 feet tall, depending on the species, cultivar, soil, sunlight, water, and growing conditions. That enormous range is one reason it can be difficult to answer a simple question such as, “How tall do cosmos grow?” Compact varieties such as Sonata, Apollo, Xanthos, …
Feb 01
Cosmos flowers are generally considered deer resistant, but they are not deer-proof. Deer often leave established Cosmos bipinnatus plants alone when more appealing food is available, which makes cosmos a useful annual for gardens where deer browsing is a concern. However, hungry deer can still eat the foliage, stems, buds, or flowers—especially when plants are …
Feb 01
Cosmos usually begins blooming in summer and continues into fall until frost, giving gardeners one of the longest flowering seasons among easy annual flowers. Depending on the cultivar, sowing date, climate, and growing conditions, the first flowers may appear roughly 75 to 90 days after sowing. Some early varieties can bloom sooner, while slower specialty …
Feb 01
Some cosmos flowers and other plant parts are edible, but you should not assume that every species of Cosmos can be eaten in the same way. The genus contains numerous species with different histories of culinary use, and reliable food documentation is much stronger for some than for others. Two of the clearest examples are …
Feb 01
A cosmos flower field can transform a sunny open area into a moving mass of pink, white, crimson, apricot, yellow, and orange blooms from summer into fall. Unlike a carefully layered cosmos flower bed, a meadow-style planting is designed to look loose, abundant, and natural, with hundreds or even thousands of flowers growing together rather …
Feb 01
The scientific name of the familiar garden cosmos is Cosmos bipinnatus, but that is only one species within the much larger Cosmos genus. Yellow and orange sulphur cosmos is Cosmos sulphureus, chocolate cosmos is Cosmos atrosanguineus, and numerous lesser-known wild species have their own botanical names. That distinction is important because there is no single …
Jan 31
Cosmos is one of the traditional birth flowers for October, sharing the month with the marigold. With its delicate petals, airy foliage, and long flowering season, cosmos is a particularly fitting October flower: many varieties are still blooming abundantly as summer gives way to autumn. The flower has also developed a rich collection of symbolic …
Jan 31
Cosmos comes in far more forms than the familiar tall pink flowers often seen in cottage gardens. Modern and heirloom varieties can produce white, blush, crimson, burgundy, pale yellow, apricot, orange, striped, picotee, double, tubular, ruffled, and even cup-shaped flowers, while plant heights range from compact varieties little more than a foot tall to cutting-garden …
Jan 31
Red cosmos flowers can range from bright carmine and crimson to deep cranberry, wine, burgundy, and warm red-orange. Although seed catalogs sometimes group all of these shades under the simple label “red cosmos,” the plants can look remarkably different once they begin flowering. Some of the best red-toned cosmos belong to Cosmos bipinnatus, the familiar …
