This week is all about Cosmos flowers. Well nearly all as I only have five so have had to add another relatively new plant to make up the six required (I don’t want to offend our host). The flowers attract a variety of bees, butterflies and hoverflies, and also make a good cut flower. Best grown in moist but well-drained soil, in full sun. Deadhead spent flowers to encourage repeat-flowering. Most of mine have been planted in containers for the summer patio, though a few of the taller Purity have been planted in the Bee and Butterfly bed where they look lovely among the purple Verbena ‘lollipop’, blackcurrant Allium and the pale yellow daylilies.
(1) Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Purity’ bears masses of pure white, single, saucer-shaped flowers, in contrast with bright green, feathery foliage. These grow to 1.2m tall and can look lovely in a border with grasses or dark coloured flowers such as dahlias.
(2) Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sonata White’ is a compact cosmos, bearing masses of pure white, single, saucer-shaped flowers, which is suitable for a container as it grows about 60cm tall.
(3) Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Daydream’ has the palest pink blooms with a dark rosy throat. Grows 70-100cm tall.
(4) Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Fizzy Rose Picotee’ has flowers which are variable in two respects. Some are single while others are semi-double or even fully double blooms. The second is that the colouring is somewhat variable. Some flowers are definitely white with dark lilac-pink edged petals, whereas others are almost completely lilac pink with a little bit of white. Reaches 100cm.
(5) Cosmos atrosanguineus (Chocolate Cosmos) is a tender perennial. With lovely velvety maroon to a deep chocolate brown colour they even have a hint of chocolate and vanilla scent about them. Height 90cm. This is also planted in the Bee and Butterfly bed and well fleeced over the winter months!
(6) Clematis ‘Princess Kate’ – It is a texensis type, producing upright to nodding, bell-shaped flowers to 6cm long, that flare out widely towards their pointed tips. The petals have an attractive colouring, being white on the inside and stained reddish-purple on the outside. Growing alongside an unknown wine coloured clematis and a white rose, Kate fits in perfectly! This clematis grows by the side of my conservatory so receives lots of sun whilst her feet are in the shade.
(1) – (4) were purchased as seedlings from Ashridge nurseries online. The plants arrived in a very healthy condition and well packaged and could have been planted on arrival, but my pots weren’t ready so I planted them on indoors until they were a bit bigger and could hopefully withstand the S&S. Next year I will look for some other colours, but this year I quite fancied a paler display after the vibrancy of my tulips.
As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.
See here for the participant’s guide.
Cornwall in Colours 
Lovely post Jude
I ‘nicked’ a couple of Cosmos plants that had grown outside the koi farm we used to visit a few years ago. These days,parts of our garden are inundated with Cosmos every year and there are a few already flowering.
When I saw the name Kate in the title I had a brief bittersweet moment, remembering the blogger Kate (Rough seas in the med). Where does the time go?
I guess yours self-seed then. I remember Kate too, so sad.
Wonderful cosmos plants – I have one lone plant this year – the rest just didn’t germinate. I have cosmos envy.
Ah, well, I bought mine as seedlings as I have no luck whatsoever in raising them from seed! As I like them so much I don’t mind paying more for them.
😊
Aren’t they stars? 🙂 🙂 Love that hottie, Kate!
I haven’t ever seen that style of clematis “Princess Kate”. It is very lovely and I used to grow cosmos as they always put on a show and looked spectacular in the afternoon breeze. Love seeing your garden photos, Jude.
I love the simplicity of cosmos. I had no idea of the variety of colours that are possible. I particularly love that first photo: reminds me of a garden we passed in motor-cycling days – a real cottage garden where the cosmos were nearly as tall as the diminutive old lady chatting at the front fence. Glorying in rain today such as we haven’t had for years. But a bit worried about people still living in denuded landscape in vans or tents. I’m loving your garden posts – a real joy in the state of semi-lockdown I’ve been in for a long time. The beach is great, but gardens are something else, and yours is such an intentional and beautiful one.
Ah, thank you Meg. I remember you weren’t so keen on my ‘Psyche’ Cosmos a couple of years ago (she was a double). These are mostly singles and the white ones have huge flowers. Next year I shall buy more of the lower growing ones. My garden is giving me pleasure, but I have reached the point where I am not sure what to do next. The raised beds are still not as I’d like them, but whatever I try doesn’t appear to last for long. We’re still in semi-lockdown now the tourists are allowed to visit people seem to have forgotten about SD. It’s been an odd year.
I’m just going to close my eyes and imagine a nice sunny afternoon in your garden Jude. It always looks so inviting.
Sun shining again today so come on over! Bring some of your lovely goodies and a bottle of SB 😉
On my way. Love savvy, so I pack a couple 😉
Beautiful display of Cosmos, Jude. Always something to learn about flowers here. 🙂 ❤
Flowers are my passion 🙂 Glad you also like them.
Yet again, a new one on my Jude! What an impressive bloom it is – I’m thinking it may not grow well in our climate since I’ve never seen it before.
C. ‘Princess Kate’ is gorgeous – I like the red stems too. I came to find your red rose for the second time, but keep seeing something else and getting distracted.
https://cornwallincolours.blog/2020/06/05/creative-with-light-2/
Reminds me how pretty ‘Fizzy Rose Picotee’ is, one I grew a few years ago and will add to my seedlist next year with the Double Click ones. I was trying to enlarge the Princess Kate pictures to see if I could establish what the other clematis was, but I can’t get a clear view of it…
Seems to have four petals (or tepals) though this one has a split one, and a faint slightly darker bar. Could it be Clematis viticella ‘Abundance’?
Sadly the picture didn’t show in the message, Jude…
Oh? Shows when I look at the comment.
Ahah, I have it now! Will check it out.