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The best cosmos to grow
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Antiquity’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_002-e7973bb.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1120px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
A shorter newcomer cosmos whose single flowers fade from rich red to paler ‘antique’ tones and finally to a rather watery shade. Deadhead when the flowers begin to look ragged.
Height 60cm.
Cosmos sulphureus ‘Carioca’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_017-5ad7e89.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1425px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Wonderful, glowing-orange single cosmos flowers on plants with appealingly open growth, slow to start but prolific later. Lovely interplanted among dark-leaved cannas or dahlias for contrast in habit and colour.
Height 1m.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Double Click Rose Bonbon’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_020-b50fcf2.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1269px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Double-flowered cosmos forms can be disappointing. This is the pick from Wisley because although there were very few doubles, the singles and fluted flowers matched perfectly in colour to create a fascinating, rosy-pink blend.
Height 1.8m.
Buy Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Double Click Rose Bonbon’ from Thompson & Morgan
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Candy Stripe’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_035-a865be7.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1115px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Tall, rather leafy cosmos plants with fresh-green foliage carry single, long-stemmed white flowers, each vividly edged with bright carmine. Some flowers are almost fully white, the variability in the markings adds to the appeal.
Height 2m.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Cupcakes White’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_049-4aeb5df.jpg?quality=90&crop=12px%2C758px%2C4008px%2C2670px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
These cosmos have cupped flowers with white petals fused into huge bowls, but with some pink-tinted and split flowers. Alternatively, ‘Cupcakes Mixed’ has a balance of white and pink shades. Voted People’s Favourite by Wisley visitors.
Height 1.2m.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Rubenza’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_074-c45318a.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1191px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Deep-red, scarlet or deep-pink single cosmos flowers on tall but prolific plants. Rich colouring and good with silver foliage, the flowers age harmoniously but eventually need regular deadheading.
Height 1.5m. Hardiness RHS H3.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Xanthos’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_078-6b13064.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C892px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Very pretty cosmos that is a Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner. The small, mostly single, primrose-yellow flowers have a neat, white ring around the golden eye; a few flowers have extra petals and there are a few white flowers.
Height 1m.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Cosimo Red-White’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_086-054e9cd.jpg?quality=90&crop=0px%2C1681px%2C4032px%2C2686px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Like a shorter version of ‘Candy Stripe’, the striking plants are best early and mid-season, while the compact foliage allows the flowers to bloom unhidden. Cruder in colour than the softer, but taller, Cosmos ‘Capriola’.
Height 60cm.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Apollo Carmine’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_098-4ab9388.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1500px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
One of the best cosmos in the Wisley display, short plants carry rich, carmine single flowers that hold their colour well and fade harmoniously into pinkish tones. Good flower shape and size, ideal in large containers.
Height 60cm.
Find Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Apollo Carmine’ through the RHS
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Apollo Pink’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_101-862721d.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1398px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Nicely rippled, rose-pink single cosmos flowers face upward from uniformly neat plants, the colour hardly fading before the petals start to drop. An improvement on the similar, but now unacceptably variable, ‘Sonata Pink’.
Height 60cm.
Buy Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Apollo Pink’ from Hayloft
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Apollo White’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_109-1b0003f.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1296px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Large, flat, upward-facing, pure-white flowers on plants of uniform height, Cosmos ‘Apollo White’ flowers consistently from June until well into the autumn. The Apollo Series is the new standard in short cosmos.
Height 60cm.
Buy Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Apollo White’ from Hayloft
Cosmos sulphureus ‘Brightness Red’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_123-f1fc720.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1517px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Semi-double flowers in vivid reddish orange, with a few orange-flowered plants mixed in. Flowers are sparse at first but prolific later on, and open at various heights on the plant, not only at the top.
Height 50cm.
Find Cosmos Sulphureus ‘Brightness Red’ through the RHS
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Capriola’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/07/JI_230816_Cosmos_185-ebdd3f3.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C604px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
My favourite, the white flowers are exquisite with their unique pattern: each petal on this cosmos is boldly tipped and edged in magenta pink with a similar ring around the eye. Sadly, it can be variable, and there are some ‘off’ types.
Height 1.2m.
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Veloutte’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/08/LI3958317@JI_230816_Cosmos_-c1c4846.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1067px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Perhaps the most dramatic cultivar, white flowers are tipped and streaked in reddish carmine, though some flowers are almost entirely white and some completely carmine. Eventually this cosmos fades to parched pink, when deadheading is necessary.
Height 1m.
Buy Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Veloutte’ from Dobies
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Rosetta’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/08/LI3958318@JI_230816_Cosmos_-86f0211.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1276px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
A new medium-height cultivar with large, mainly semi-double flowers striped in lavender pink and blushed white. Very pretty, early, long-flowering and prolific cosmos, but, strangely, its flowers all face in different directions.
Height 1.2m.
Find Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Rosetta’ through the RHS
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Versailles Dark Rose’
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/18/2018/08/LI3958319@JI_230816_Cosmos_-1b6067e.jpg?quality=90&crop=9px%2C1647px%2C4014px%2C2674px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
The best of the tallest types of cosmos; the large, single, rich-rose flowers have a dark-red ring around the golden eye. Too tall and leafy for many gardens, but good at the back of the border and for cutting.
Height 2.5m.
Find Cosmos Bipinnatus ‘Versailles Dark Rose’ through the RHS
You can find more information on hardiness ratings here.