Cosmos, a genus that gathers around 20-26 species, is a perfect garden flower as it brigs a plus of color and the power of joggling with them, as the colors may differ from a specie to another.
The genus includes Cosmos atrosanguineus, Cosmos bipinnatus, Cosmos caudatus and Cosmos sulphureus, some of them extremely popular between ornamental plants.
In terms of appearance, the flowers produced by the plant are very much alike daisies and have colors such as: white, pink, yellow or orange. The flowering season starts at the beginning of summer and ends in the end of fall.
The process of planting is recommended on fertile soils or soils on which there have been previously used fertilizers. In spite of this, Cosmos is very easy to grow and within 14 weeks you can enjoy it, as it is ready to bloom.
A more difficult job when talking about Cosmos, is planting it in pots, because of the precise quantities of garden soil, peat and sand of the mixture in which it will be planted. That is: 1/3 garden soil, 1/3 peat and 1/3 sand, in order to lighten the water drainage.
The color variations of the plant can most definitely make your imagination go wild. Try to mix Cosmos with other eye-catching perennials and the result will worth all the hard work. Your garden will have a complete change of aspect and will most definitely glow. Besides the pleasant aspect Cosmos has also a pleasant scent and the most noticeable one is that of the chocolate Cosmos.
In order to propagate the plant all you need are the seeds, and the easiest way of obtaining them is by drying the blooms just before they die.
Cosmos is very sensitive to a canker disease that attacks the plant and in most cases manages to kill it. Other diseases that might damage Cosmos but that are not as harmful as the canker diseases are: leaf spots and powdery mildew.
Cosmos Pictures Gallery
