Best beautiful cosmos for your garden

An essential for the summer garden, cosmos are available in a range of colours and at a variety of heights. Hazel Sillver looks at both the annual and perennial species

- Hazel Sillver

NOT only are cosmos easy and inexpensive to grow, but they also produce an abundance of pretty daisy-like flowers that can be cut for the vase during summer and early autumn. They are native to Mexico, where they bloom in swathes of pink, white and orange in sun-baked meadows and scrub.

The name cosmos derives from the Greek kosmos, meaning ‘beauty and harmony of the universe’. It was adopted by Spanish missionary priests in Mexico who appreciated the flower’s evenly arranged circle of petals.

Harvest regularly

The majority of cosmos grown by gardeners are pink or white forms of the half-hardy annual species Cosmos bipinnatus. Possessing a cut-and-come-again habit, like a sweet pea, C. bipinnatus should be harvested regularly for the vase to maintain its impressive flower power. It’s also an excellent addition to a wildlife-friendly border, since its nectar lures pollinators such as bees.

Cut-flower expert and nursery owner Sarah Raven is a huge fan: “Cosmos bipinnatus lasts 10 days in the vase, produces two buckets of cut flowers a week from a 3x3ft (90x90cm) patch, and does so from late June until November,” she says. “So that’s nearly 50 buckets of flowers in one season from a small patch. They are impossible to beat.”

She recommends supporting the taller varieties (such as ‘Purity’) in order to grow the best cut flowers and prevent the plants being flattened by wind and rain. This is best done with a layer of taut pea netting (attached to bamboo or hazel sticks) that the plants grow up through, gradually concealing it. Alternatively, cosmos can be staked individually with bamboo canes.