Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail. 21st January 2017
The Magic of the Cosmos
I often get asked what my favourite plant is and, not surprisingly, I find it impossible to answer. I usually end up managing to whittle it down to about ten, with a variety of reasons for each choice.
Among my Top Ten are always the beautiful and undemanding Cosmos. They are just the perfect annual for any garden, providing fabulous colour and texture and being the ultimate ‘gap-filler’ in the borders. They make excellent cut flowers and the bees adore them. What more could you ask from a plant?
I always sow them liberally in my own garden – dedicating a whole raised bed to them in the veg garden to keep my bees happy and also sprinkling them through various beds and borders. And of course, they get included in Client’s gardens too. Peace inducing drifts of the all white ‘Purity’ for one; the bushy dwarf variety ‘Brightness Mixed’ for another and the tall, prolific ‘Sensation” for another. Early annual wildflower mixes always include the cheerful cosmos And then of course there is the stunning scent’-sational talking point – the chocolate cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus ‘Dark Secret’
As you can tell, I just can’t recommend them highly enough.
Cosmos Breakthroughs
The innovative seed company, Thomson and Morgan, have been at the forefront of Cosmos breeding for 10 years since some unusual seeds arrived from California.
The ‘Cupcakes’ series of the ever-popular cosmos was born out of a chance find in a California back yard in 2007. When Diane Engdahl discovered an unusual Cosmos flower in her garden in Santa Rosa, she sent the ensuing seed to the plant breeding team at Thompson & Morgan. Instead of its flower being made up of individual petals, rather like a daisy, as with most cosmos, the petals of this unique bloom were fused together, creating one single ‘cup’.
For nearly 10 years, plant breeders at Thompson & Morgan have been busy ‘fixing’ this new trait across the cosmos colour mix, developing new shades and refining the habit of this new cosmos shape. This long-standing cottage garden favourite was celebrated in 2016’s Year of the Cosmos and visitors to RHS Garden Wisley were asked to vote in a poll to name their favourite garden cosmos as part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual People’s Choice Competition. Once votes were gathered, Cosmos bipannatus ‘Cupcakes came out on top of the 84 varieties on show in the RHS garden.
Sales of cosmos seed and plants have increased hugely over the past 10 years. This is partly due to breakthroughs in breeding, which have led to new varieties such as ‘Cupcakes’ and ‘Lemonade’ (see pictured), but it is undoubtedly down to the fabulous and reliable garden performance of the stunning plant. Available in so many colour ways, heights and flower types; easy to grow; not prone to disease or pest attacks – Cosmos really should be in every gardener’s Top Ten plants.
Cosmic Shelter
During T&M’s trials, there was another exciting find … not only are Cosmos a firm favourite with gardeners and pollinators but it was noticed that bees were taking shelter from wind and rain inside the flower ‘cups’, with sometimes more than one bee sharing the protection that the fused petals afford. Knowing that this already-amazing flower provides bees with refuge from inclement weather just makes them all the more appealing.
I will definitely be including the ‘Cosmos Cupcakes’ in my gardens from now on.
Cosmic growing tips
- Sow cosmos seeds in a heated greenhouse or propagator in April.
- Good light is important to prevent ‘stretching’
- Young plants can be planted out after the very last frosts, usually in late May/early June
- Regular dead-heading will promote flowering right up to the first frosts
- When dead-heading cosmos, cut the stem right back to the first leaf rather than just pulling the flower head off
- Seed can be planted outside, where you’d like them to flower, in May or early June
Seeds start at £1.99 for 100 and or chose 30 garden-ready plants at £1.99.
More details at www.thompson-morgan.com.
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