September Plant of the Month
I always try and grow some of these lovely annuals from seed each spring as they last well into the autumn and plug gaps in the border. This year, I sold quite a few young plants on a stall for the Didsbury Open Gardens charity event and realised too late that I hadn’t left myself with many plants. So, I put my last three plants into a Long Tom pot and they’re still flowering away as I write in October. In a border they can be left to grow on once watered in after planting but, in a pot, they need watering every day it seems. Even now!
Cosmos flowers are daisy-like with bright green, feathery foliage in all shades of pink, white and pale lemon yellow. ‘Purity’ is pure white with single, saucer-shaped flowers and tall at 1-1.2m high. All types like moist but well-drained soil in full sun. In flower from July until the first frosts, depending on how early the seed is sown. Also available to buy as annuals, although garden centres usually sell the shorter types.
The flowers attract bees, butterflies and hoverflies, and also make a good cut flower. I must remember to grow more next year!
