I am a perennial fan, and rarely grow annuals, so I don't know much about them. However, I have found that cosmos will withstand our heat/drought/wind here in Texas, and I have a lovely stand of yellow and orange ones. My question is, do they self-seed? If so, I won't disturb their area when I tuck the flower garden in for the winter. If not, I need to order lots of cosmos seed ASAP! Thank you for your help.
Yep, they self-seed freely and the birds will help spread them too. I have the orange ones in front and back and I only planted them once in a container out back about 5 years ago.
Thank you both for the information! I'll go lightly around the cosmos' area when I compost the garden bed, but I think I'll buy some more seed anyway. I really like the look of those flowers! Could I become an annual fan, also?
Not to aide you in your possible addiction to annuals, but have you seen the other type of Cosmos too? Cosmos bipinnatus (Garden Cosmos, Mexican Aster) This one is my favorite and it readily self-seeds too.
Toni... those are the one's that I grew in New Mexico. Absolutely beautiful! And yes... self-seeded every year. I've got a pack of seeds, for the yellow and gold ones. I'll have to see if I can find the pink and white ones now.
Gee Toni, thanks! Now I'll be mainlineing cosmos! Those look lovely, so I'll have to get some, which means the flower bed will expand, which means more compost. See what you did to me? Cherylad, if I can find a source for the pink and white ones, I'll let you know by private message.
Hey, glad to aid a gardener in any way I can. I did the same to Cheryl year before last when I posted photos of my Lousianna Iris water plant in bloom. Most places that sell flower seeds will have packets of the Cosmos bipinnatus. On line tho here are some Red ones http://www.tmseeds.com/product/Cosmos_b ... ardy_Seeds Red and Pinks.. http://www.tmseeds.com/product/Cosmos_b ... Top_Seller Parkseed.com has doubles and other colors too.
Okay, so give. Where did you get the seed? Don't hold out on us, this is serious! By the way, that is a beautiful cat on your avatar, Bip.
I love cosmos too...one of my favorites but they do not do very much self seeding here in Wisconsin zone 4. I had a bad year with them this season, except for the orange ones that I had plenty of seeds from the previous year to plant. The plants I bought from a small size got larger but our winds got them and ruined them....our winds have been double to triple the strength at times..
I checked my seeds... thought I had the yellow/orange ones... but nope... it's the Red, Pinks, and Whites! Yippee! But now I need to find some of the others because I just love these plants.
Cosmos bipinnatus are red, pink and white. Cosmos sulphureus are yellow and native from Mexico south but do well in most of Texas Cosmos atrosanguineus 'Chocamochais' is a dark red and available through many seed sellers. There are about 20 species of Cosmos but many are not easy to find for sale.
