Cosmos
Cosmos bipinnatus. ASTERACEAE (COMPOSITAE).
Planting and Growing Cosmos
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow cosmos in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of cosmos
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for cosmos
- Season of bloom and planting time for cosmos
- When, how deep, and where to plant cosmos
- How to plant cosmos
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of cosmos
- Landscape and container uses of cosmos
- Comments about cosmos and its features
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Growing Cosmos
Many cultivars of upright, branching or bushy annual herbs, 7–10 ft. (2.2–3 m) tall. Shiny, yellow green, feathery, divided leaves, to 5 in. (13 cm) long, with narrow leaflets, to 1 in. (25 mm) long.
Common cultivars include Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Candy Stripe’, ‘Double Crested’, ‘Early Sensation’, ‘Imperial Pink’, ‘Sea Shells’, ‘Sensation’, ‘Sonata’, and ‘Versailles’.
See also Yellow Cosmos, Cosmos sulphureus, a closely related annual, and Black Cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus, a closely related perennial plant, both with similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, pink, red, violet, flat-faced flowers, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) wide, with bright yellow centers and scalloped petals, in summer–autumn.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 5–11.
Soil Type and Fertility
Damp to dry, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Average–low. 7.0–7.5 pH. Best blooms in low-fertility soil.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full to filtered sun, 1 ft. (30 cm) apart, after soil warms. Avoid transplanting.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep damp; allow soil to dry between waterings. Drought tolerant. Avoid fertilizing. Deadhead spent flowers to prolong bloom. Stake and protect from wind. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, beds, borders in arid, cottage, heritage, meadow, seaside gardens. Good for cutting. Attracts birds, butterflies. Pest and disease resistant.