Dazzler Cosmos Seedling Plants

Cosmos Dazzler

Cosmos bipinnatus Dazzler may well be the best of the dark pink flowered Cosmos being a gorgeous rich carmine. Newly opened, it is nearly blood red. Certainly beautiful enough to get it into our collection of ready to plant cosmos seedlings.

We wax lyrical with all the Cosmos because they are the most astonishingly floriferous subjects. One of the experiments we carried out when we were trialling our range was to plant a drift of 15 Cosmos Dazzler and then cut as many as we could every Friday (none were wasted and staff took them home!). We always filled one Vileda bucket (which are quite large) and if the sun had been shining, we usually filled a second. That went on from late May until the end of October. Simply staggering quantities of flowers.

Dazzler is a lovely colour and so also works very well in containers - it sets greys and silver off very well, so try it in one of those galvanised, zincy things that seem to be all the rage at present. Add a bit of lavender, maybe some Cosmos Purity and you are away.

As with all Cosmos, you have to keep cutting to keep the flowers coming and a bit of liquid tomato fertiliser works wonders for flower quality as the summer wears on.

• Half-hardy Annual
• Colour: Carmine
• Height: 70-100 cms
• Planting Months: April - June/July
• Flowers: Single, daisy-like. To 8 cms
• Flowering: May - October
• Plant Spacing: 25-35 cms

Plant your Cosmos Dazzler seedlings in well-turned soil so it is easy for their roots to establish. Adding a little organic matter helps greatly with water retention, bit don't overdo it - cosmos flower better if the soil has not been improved too much. Water well after planting and for at least a week to ten days after that just to make sure they grow away well.

Cosmos also grow very well in containers but remember that they can reach 100 cms in ideal conditions so we would suggest using pot sizes of at least 5 Litres and preferably a bit more. Any general purpose compost will do here.

The main requirements are that your plants have enough light and water - they grow very fast and flower hugely through summer so moisture is important. They can cope with a little shade but flower better in full sun. As a guide, cosmos need a minimum of 4 hours direct light a day, but they do better with more.

Because you are buying seedlings, you can plant your cosmos into their final flowering positions immediately. Space your plants 25-35 cm apart and (in a bed) plant them in drifts of 12-15 plants. They will either need a 90 cms cane per plant (which should be pushed in about 30 cms deep and about 5 cm from a plant) or a support made of twine or pea/bean netting. This should be stretched between canes about 30-40 cms above ground level and the cosmos can then grow through it. It is not pretty at first but the plants disguise it very quickly and it is an effective solution. Just don't plant a group that is so big you can't reach the middle...

As flowers develop cut them or dead head when they are over and your cosmos will carry on flowering all summer long. A well-grown plant can quite literally produce a hundred flowers or so in a season.

To maintain flower quality and size, you can use a high potash and phosphate fertiliser every fortnight throughout summer Home-made comfrey tea is perfect or one of the specialised tomato fertilisers will do very well.