July Plant of the Month

Here’s a plant that caught my eye recently. A cosmos with the most beautiful, deep cherry red flowers and the familiar scent of chocolate cosmos, although possibly not as chocolatey as the true chocolate cosmos. 

This plant passed me by in 2024 when it was a runner-up in the RHS Plant of the Year competition. However, having got my attention this year, I am enjoying this plant in a pot on the patio where it is producing lots of blooms with numerous buds that promise a long flowering season. The bees also like it.

Cosmos ‘Cherry Chocolate’ is more compact than other varieties – less tall and leggy. The flower stems are shorter, so the flowers sit more closely above the foliage. It is also supposed to be hardier than previous varieties of chocolate cosmos. In the ground it might survive the winter outside with a mulch for protection. As mine is in a pot, I will store it in the greenhouse or tuck it in against my south facing wall at the side of the house and hope I will be able to enjoy its beautiful blooms again next summer.

Posts from the blog:

Adding annuals

A selection of recommended annuals.

The bees are a’ buzzing!

The garden is alive with bees as they gather pollen from a whole host of flowers.

Unfurling ferns

Take the opportunity to get close up to your ferns and admire the fascinating structures that exist within this family of ancient plants.

Plant sleuth

This mystery plant had leaves that were still lush in October but with no sign of any flowers to give me a lead.