How to Grow Cosmos

Cosmos give you a big bang for your buck. Growing carefree from seed, these annuals (meaning they grow just one year) fill a flowerbed with color and are great cut flowers. Cosmos grow anywhere from 1 foot to 3 feet high, depending on the variety.

Cosmos Seeds
Garden Spades
Garden Trowels
Watering Cans

Instructions

- 1
  Check out your local garden center in spring for cosmos seeds and seedlings. Because they're so fast and easy to grow from seed, however, many nurseries don't carry them as seedlings.
- 2
  Choose either Cosmos bipinnatus, which has feathery foliage and large daisy-like flowers in all the ranges of white, pink and red, or Cosmos sulphureus, which has smaller flowers in more brilliant, sunset hues and is drought-resistant. (Cosmos also reseed easily.)
- 3
  Plant indoors four to six weeks before your region's average last frost date to get earliest bloom. Otherwise, plant outdoors directly in the soil after the last frost date, 8 inches apart in full sun in average soil.
- 4
  Trim spent blooms to encourage a longer bloom period.
- 5
  Pull out plants, and discard in fall once frost kills them.

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How to Grow Godetia (Clarkia Amoena)

Growing Annuals