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  • From the Archives

    • Cosmos

    Cosmos are quintessential cottage garden flowers. Their airy, delicate forms work well just about anywhere, whether it is a container, small annual bed or a large mixed border. And no matter what your color preference is, there is a cosmos out there for you. In addition, adding cosmos will almost guarantee that your garden will be visited by butterflies.


    While there are over twenty known species of cosmos, the two annual species are the most common. The first one is Cosmos sulphurens, which blooms in yellow, red, or orange. The second is Cosmos bipinnatus, which has finely cut foliage and blooms in pinks, white, and rose shades. There is a wide range in plant heights, too. Cosmos can grown anywhere from one to seven feet tall, with a spread of about twelve to eighteen inches.

    Cosmos need full sun, and do well in poor to average soil, as long as it is well drained. In fact, soil that is too fertile will result in overly tall, spindly plants with few blooms. Once established, cosmos are fairly drought-tolerant. In fact, cosmos basically thrive on neglect once they’re growing strong. However, if you want continuous bloom (of course you do!) you will need to deadhead your cosmos. If you enjoy getting out there and deadheading, you can simply pluck the spent blossoms one by one. Or, if you’ve planted a ton of cosmos, or you just don’t enjoy deadheading, you can wait until you have a lot of spent flowers, and then chop the whole plant back by about a third. You will get a nice flush of new blooms in no time.

    The easiest way to grow cosmos is to direct sow them in the garden. Sow the seed in May, after danger of frost. Keep the seeds well watered until they sprout. Once they have sprouted, an inch of water per week should be fine. You can also start cosmos indoors in early spring and plant them out after danger of frost. This will give you earlier blooms, never a bad thing! For more information on seed starting, take a look at our schedule for seed starting and advice to make your seed starting a success.

    Recommended Short Varieties

    ‘Sonata’ — Bushy, 24″ tall plants, prolific bloomer. Two to three inch single flowers in pink, white or rose. Great for borders and containers.

    Sources: Park’s Seeds, Burpee


    ‘Cosmic’ — Red, orange, or yellow double and semi-double blooms on 12″ to 24″ plants. Perfect for containers.

    Sources: Park’s Seeds, Burpee

    ‘Rhapsody in Red’ — Beautiful mix of whites, pinks, roses and reds in single, fluted, and double blooms. 20″ to 26″ tall. Perfect for borders.

    Source: Burpee

    ‘Ladybird Mix’ — Dwarf, compact plants, 12″ tall, with semi-double two inch blooms in reddish-orange, yellow, and orange. Perfect for containers.

    Source: Park’s Seeds

    ‘Red Crest’ — 24″ tall with two inch reddish-orange single blooms. Slightly cupped, frilled flowers. Good for borders.

    Source: Territorial Seed Company

    ‘Unique Mix’ — Very pretty mix of whites, reds, and bicolors. Single and double blooms. 20″ to 26″ tall plants. Good for borders.

    Source: Territorial Seed Company

    ‘Gazebo’ — All white cosmos, large, two to three inch single flowers with yellow centers. 20″ tall. Great for borders and containers.
    Sources: Territorial Seed Company, Park’s Seeds

    ‘Chocolate’ — Deep maroon to blackish single blooms with a chocolaty scent. 12″ to 18″ tall. Perfect for containers.
    Source: Territorial Seed Company

    Recommended Tall Varieties:

    ‘Sensation Mix’ — Large single blooms in white, rose, and pink with yellow centers. Grows up to 48″ tall.
    Sources: Burpee, Gurney’s , Territorial Seed Company, Johnny’s Selected Seeds

    ‘Bright Lights’ — Semi-double, two inch blooms in yellow, light orange, and dark red-orange. Up to 36″ tall. Very good for borders.

    Sources: Territorial Seed Company, Burpee, Gurney’s, Seeds of Change, Park’s Seeds

    ‘Pied Piper Red’ — Rare, fully fluted blooms in dark magenta. 36″ tall.

    Source: Burpee

    ‘Seashells Mix’ — Three inch blooms, lightly rolled at edges like seashells. Blooms in creamy white, pink, and rose. 48″ tall.

    Sources: Burpee, Gurney’s, Seeds of Change, Johnny’s Selected Seeds