October babies can be delighted that Cosmos are their flowers for their birthday month. For gardeners who like to know the origin of their flowers, the name Cosmos comes from the Greek “kosmos,” meaning harmony, order, and the world at large.
The Greek meaning of harmony also signifies balance, beauty, joy and modesty. All these descriptors roll into the Cosmos symbols of innocence and love and connect with the idea of peace and wholeness (trulyexperiences.com).
With all these great attributes, what gardener would not want cosmos flowers in their garden? They are great in a naturalized landscape and in cottage gardens. Cosmos add a delicate touch to floral arrangements.
The flowers of cosmos have single layers of eight delicate, simple petals that surround a central yellow disk. Varieties come in a rainbow of colors—orange, purple, white, pink and yellow. Flowers are borne on tall, thin stems and can reach several feet in height. Blossoms attract honey bees and hummingbirds.
Cosmos are easy-to-grow annuals. They reseed readily and because of this characteristic the volunteer seedlings can be troublesome. It is well adapted to hot, dry conditions. They have the best floral display when grown in full sun. Plants grown in shade will be lanky and thin, flop over, and have few flowers. But when grown in full sun gardens will have blooms all summer and into the autumn.
Likewise, because cosmos grow best in drier soil, if overwatered or kept too wet may rot or set fewer blooms. Good news for our growing region, because Cosmos are adapted to alkaline soils and have better growth in high pH soils.
They can require some maintenance when plants are blooming. The flowers can quickly mature and set seed, which gives a rank appearance. To keep plants tidy, deadhead spent blooms frequently. Plants that have flowers are senescing and setting seed will cease putting on new blooms. Encourage new blooms by faithfully removing spent blooms.
Sow seed in the spring after the last frost. Place seed shallow, about ¼-inch depth. Thin seedlings to 18” to 24” spacing as plants have a wide spread and can become quite large. Plants will bloom all summer.
A fun trivia for cosmos lovers—it is a traditional flower in second-anniversary bouquets since they represent harmony and the joy that love and life have to offer (bloomandwild.com).
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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