Best cosmos flowers for a beautiful garden

Time for a post on some of my favourite cosmos flowers. I have chosen eight of them, in an array of beautiful colours and shapes. Naturally, I could have given thirty favourites, but that would be a jolly long post! So, this can be a first one perhaps.

Cosmos are annual flowers with fabulously colourful blooms, ranging from pure white to yellow, pink, orange, purple and red.

In addition to the rich variety of colours, they come in a range of sizes too. From the compact 60cm which are ideal for pots, window boxes and fronts of flower borders, through to the whopping 150cm giants.

As they prefer poor soil, providing you have a sunny area; they will grow away merrily in flower borders or pots.

Furthermore, cosmos flowers are absolute magnets for bees, butterflies, and other insects such as hoverflies. Therefore, one patch of these flowers will bring you hordes of pollinators.

Moreover, cosmos flowers have an incredibly long flowering season and will flower from as early as May until the first frosts which can be as late as December.

They are also known as a fantastic cut and come again flower. Therefore, you can cut some for your home, knowing that the plants will send up new blooms.

I would not be without cosmos in my garden, and hope you will grow some of these fine flowers too.

So, here are some of my favourites.

Best white cosmos flowers

My first choice for the palest cosmos flowers is the fantastic Double Dutch White.

I grew this one last year for the first time and the bees, as you can see, were jolly keen.

Although the flowers are double blooms, and mightily frilly at that, the pollinators still have easy access to the nectar and pollen.

As they reach a height of 90cm to 120cm, they are well suited to the back of a border. I also had some in the middle of an island bed last year, with some dahlias, and they looked fabulous.

There are other white varieties, of which, I grow several, naturally. One of these is the tall and beautiful single flowered Purity. Another white variety is Sonata white, which is a shorter version of Purity and ideal for pots.

Pink cosmos flowers

My next choice is the fabulous Psyche which comes in pink or white and can be bought as a mix as well as single colours.

These are beautifully large flowers with wavy petals.

I love the way the bloom is slightly crinkly and wavy around the edge of the flower. Followed by the fabulous ruffled centre petals.

Another tall variety, reaching 90cm, of wavy beauty in the flower borders.

I also grow Fizzy White and Fizzy Pink which have semi-double wavy frills. As well as sharing similar frilly flowers, the Fizzy brigade will also reach a height of 90cm.

I have found some Fizzy Purple for this year. Definitely a cosmos flower to make me swoon.

Amazon have Fizzy Purple, Fizzy Pink and a Fizzy mixture. Link below if you fancy some Fizzy flowers.

https://amzn.to/3UUiYLt

Cosmos Gloria

My next choice just has to be the glorious Gloria. This is the beauty that I always sow on 1st February and plant out in bloom, during April every year.

Of course, it is risky to plant out so early in the year, but she has always flowered from April and has never been affected by a frost. Never say never and fingers crossed here!

Glorious Gloria is a giant in the cosmos world, reaching up to 150cm in height.

Doesn’t she look fabulous with a bee? A bright and zingy pink with a darker pink ring around the yellow centre.

Such a beautiful flower for colour, and a boost to wellbeing for us too.

I have given a link at the end of this post, if you would like some Glorious Gloria for your garden.

Dazzler cosmos flowers

Onto a dazzler of a cosmos, called Dazzler. Besides having a large open flower, this one is a beautiful deep carmine crimson colour. Definitely one to make me swoon.

Another tall variety, growing to a height of 100cm.

If you love the colour but would like a shorter cosmos, Rubenza is a slightly darker crimson and grows to a height of 60cm.

Rubenza would be great in a pot as well as flower borders.

I will grow them together in a flower border this year to give a sea of bright carmine blooms at different heights.

Seashells shaped cosmos

My next cosmos is the fantastic shaped Seashell’s variety.

I normally purchase a Seashell’s mix which has white, light pink and dark pink flowers. These ones grow to a height of 100cm so they are jolly tall and look stunning in flower borders.

I love the unusual fluted shaped petals on this variety. The rings of tiny individual flowers (florets) in the centre are eye-catching too.

Furthermore, a great bright yellow pad for our pollinators to land for a snack.

I shall grow hundreds of these again this year. A beautiful flower for the garden.

My favourite cosmos flowers

Next, it is my absolute favourite cosmos, Double Click Cranberries.

One of the most beautiful cosmos flowers in a rich carmine colour of fabulous ruffled petals.

I grow hundreds of these every year and plant them in every border. As you can see, the bees are as keen as I am on this one.

Another fairly tall variety, at 90cm in height.

Thompson and Morgan have a Double Click mix in white, rosy red and pink.

There are other Double Click varieties too, such as Double Click Rose Bonbon, which is a lovely ruffled and frilly rose pink.

Links below if you would like some Double Click flowers for your garden.

Cupcakes cosmos

And now for a totally different shaped cosmos flower. Isn’t this one a beauty?

These ones rise to a height of 120cm and give such a gorgeous soft and floaty affect in my flower borders each year.

I have noticed that they are not keen on heavy rain, due to their cup shaped blooms. And who is? However, they do recover after a shower and can always be planted where they are sheltered from the rain.

I have seen a Cupcakes and Saucers variety, bred by Thompson and Morgan which has white, light pink and carmine pink flowers which looks stunning too.

As I have thirty varieties to grow this year, I will add this one onto my list for next year. Unless of course, I succumb to temptation and this beauty becomes cosmos flower number thirty one.

And I am not keen on odd numbers so best I look for two more varieties then. Good excuse I think for a few more cosmos!

Antiquity cosmos

My last of the cosmos flowers for this post is the beautiful Antiquity.

A variety of shorter cosmos, with flowers that open the darkest, most fantastic crimson colour, which then fades a little to look antiqued.

As the plants only reach 60cm in height, they are ideal for pots as well as the fronts of flower borders.

My photo does not really show how the colour fades so beautifully across each flower. Therefore, one to try yourselves if you want to see just how fabulous she is.

Another fabulous variety that changes tones, depending on the sunlight is Xsenia.

Sarah Raven and Thompson and Morgan have both varieties in stock. Links at the end of the post if you would like to grow these beauties.

Seeds, sowing and growing

Cosmos seeds are a half hardy annual flower which means they will not survive a frost. Therefore, seeds will need to be sown in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill between February and April. However, if you do not have the space to do this, they can be sown directly into the garden or into pots when all risks of frosts are over.

Further details can be found below in an earlier cosmos post.

How to grow cosmos for pollinators

I order most of my flower seeds from Thompson and Morgan and Sarah Raven and have added links below.

Cosmos seed options from Thompson and Morgan

Sarah Raven cosmos seed options

I have just seen a zingy bright orange variety with Thompson and Morgan, named Polidor. Looks like my seeds will increase! I bet my lovely friend, the Cosmos Queen, will want this one too.

Here is a link for the bright and zingy Polidor.

Zingy orange Polidor cosmos – Thompson and Morgan

And if you would like some glorious Gloria, Amazon has some. Link below

https://amzn.to/3IbnXjl

I hope you have enjoyed this post and will join me next time. I imagine Remus Nautilus, my beautiful black cat, along with my fabulous chickens, will be featuring in a new post soon. There may also be a guest appearance from another fabulous companion gardener.

My blog is an affiliate for Thompson and Morgan, Sarah Raven and Amazon. Therefore, if you click on one of the links in this post, and make a purchase I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you.

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