100+ Beautiful Cosmos Early Sensation Single Mix Flower Seeds---( B049 ) COSMOS BIPINNATUS

100+ Beautiful Cosmos Early Sensation Single Mix Flower Seeds-( B049)COSMOS BIPINNATUS

Cosmos bipinnatus is a colorful flower. Four inch single flowers have yellow centers with light and dark pink and variegated petals; color galore for the summer and fall garden. Grows to 4 feet tall. Cosmos like full sun. Their peak blooming time is typically mid to late August, the overall season beginning late July and lasting into September.  Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) add a feathery, raffish touch that can enliven the most sedate annual garden. A Mexican native, sometimes called Mexican aster, cosmos are self-seeding in United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 and 10 and are summer-blooming annuals in zones 5 through 10. White, pink, red and purple daisy-shaped flowers float above feathery foliage on stalks ranging from 1 to 7 feet. "Sensation" is a mid-sized, 4-foot-tall color mixture that brightens any landscape.

Exposure: Full sun

Zone: 2-10

Timing: Direct sow from early March right up until mid-June. Several sowings will result in a very long bloom period. You can also start Cosmos indoors in February to early March for transplanting late March to mid-April. Seeds will sprout in 3-10 days. Optimal temperature for germination: 21-25°C (70-75°F).

Starting Sow seeds very shallowly only a few millimeters (1/8″) deep. Thin or transplant to 20-25cm (8-10″) apart. Germination Time: 7-10 Days Bloom from seed in 8-10 Weeks Starting Cosmos Seeds Indoors: 1 Start seeds indoors, if you wish. Plant seeds four to five weeks before the date of the last expected frost for your planting zone. In zone 8, plant seeds in early March; in zone 9, plant in February; in zone 10, plant in mid-January. 2 Fill cups in a seed starting tray with moist potting soil. Press one or two seeds gently into each soil-filled cup, covering seeds with 1/4 inch of additional soil. 3 Place the filled tray in a warm, sunny indoor location, like a sun-room windowsill. 4 Keep soil consistently moist as seeds sprout and grow. Expect seeds to germinate in a week or two after planting.

Move seed tray to a sheltered outdoor locations after six weeks indoors or when seedlings are 2 inches tall and all danger of frost has passed. Plant seedlings 1 to 2 feet apart in a sunny, well-drained location.

Starting Cosmos Seeds Outdoors: 1 Select a location that receives full sun for six or more hours per day. Choose a location that will accommodate plants 4 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide, like the back of an annual flower bed, the end row in a vegetable garden or that bare spot along the garage wall. Prepare soil for planting as soon as danger of frost has passed.

 Dig sand, gravel or a small amount of peat moss into soil, if needed, to break up poorly draining clay and lighten soil texture. Cosmos do best in well-drained, sandy loam.

 Test soil in any new location for pH, or acid-alkaline, balance. Cosmos prefer neutral to slightly alkaline soil, with a pH score of 6.0 to 7.0 being ideal. Dig sulfur into more strongly alkaline soil or lime into more strongly acidic soil to create a more neutral balance.

 Turn soil over with a trowel to a depth of 3 to 6 inches to enhance root development for seedling plants.

Sow seeds approximately 6 inches apart in rows or broadcast over a wide row or cluster area. You can thin plants when they reach 2 to 4 inches tall or let them grow thickly. 5 Provide regular watering to keep soil moist but not wet. Pull weeds until plants are tall enough to crowd and shade them out, usually by the time they are 1 foot tall.

Tips  Cosmos benefit from steady but not scorching sunlight. If the area receives dappled tree shade during the hottest hours of afternoon sun, you can plant them along the edge of a heat-reflecting driveway or white-painted wall.  Like many annual flowers, cosmos usually grow well without added fertilizer. Rich soil encourages foliage growth over flow