I am yet to come across a variety of this hardy-ish annual that I don't like. You cannot go wrong with the most often seen 'Sonata' types, single colours or mixed. This year I'm experimenting with a variety called 'Picotee'. I have to say I was persuaded by its picture (see right).I sow the seeds in late March indoors - 2 to 3 seeds per mini pot just below the surface of sandy seed compost. I put the mini pots in a covered seed tray on the window ledge and keep moist. They germinate very quickly 5-10 days. I remove the the weakest seedlings from each mini pot. I pot the best seedling into a slightly bigger pot using peat free compost with a bit of horticultural sand in it. I keep them next to the house until end of April, beginning of May before planting in their final position. If a severe late ground frost is predicted, I recommend bringing them indoors overnight.
They key to keeping these flowering until the first frost is keep removing the dead flowers. The key to getting a bushy plant is to remove the growing tip when it has three or four sets of 'real leaves' i.e. not the ones that show when the seedling first germinates. These plants prefer full sun and any well-drained soil.
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I like the colour of the ones in the picture. Dead heading is a good tip for many flowering plants.
ReplyDeleteI've never done the cosmos in the picture before. Can't wait to see what it looks like. I'm gonna try it in my own garden to see how it performs.
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