Monday, May 3, 2010

Cosmos


Cosmos flowers are produced in a capitulum. Cosmos flower Capitulum is surrounded by a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets. There is a lot of color variation in between the species. Cosmos flowers are 2-4 inches in diameter. Cosmos flowers come in brightly colored single or double flowers which include white, pink, orange, yellow, and scarlet colors.
Facts about Cosmos flower
• Cosmos are herbaceous perennial flowering plants.
• Cosmos flower plants grow to 3-6 feet tall.
• The leaves of Cosmos plant are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and are arranged in opposite pairs.
• The word Cosmos is derived from the Greek, which means a balanced universe.
• Cosmos flower blooms twice a year and only once in the season.
• Cosmos flowers blooms heavily, but dies with first frost.
• Cosmos flowers can regrow in the following spring if seed falls on bare ground.
• Cosmos flowers occurs in Solid pink, white, maroon, and pink with deep pink flares.
• Cosmos flowering plants can be grown quickly and successfully in all regions.
• Cosmos seeds are miniature pine needles.
• Cosmos seeds are one of the easiest seeds in the world to grow.
• Chocolate cosmos or Cosmos atrosanguinea, fills the air with its sweet scent of vanilla tinged chocolate.
• Lace cosmos have more rows of petals, and have ferny foliage of a very delicate texture. Cosmos sulphureus plant leaves resemble those of marigolds (member of the Compositae, to which Cosmos belongs).
Growing Cosmos flowers
• Sow the cosmos seeds directly just before the last frost.
• Give 12 inches of space between the plants.
• Spread the cosmos seeds over freshly turned bare soil.
• Press the seed into the dirt, and do not cover the seed.
• Cosmos seeds germinate quickly.
• Cosmos plants normally grow to 4-5 feet in a season.
• Most of the Cosmos varieties are annuals, but there are perennial varieties also.
• Perennial varieties of cosmos are Rhizomes and can be propagated by division.
Caring Cosmos flowers
• Spent flowers should be deadheaded regularly, as it keeps cosmos in bloom for many weeks.
• Overfertilizing and overwatering reduces the flower production.
• Cosmos flower plants are drought tolerant but water Cosmos plants during long dry spells.
• After the plants die after the first frost, remove them, and keep as compost, which helps as mulch for the next year plants.

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