A field of Cosmos bipinnatus
Fields of Cosmos bipinnatus, or Mexican aster, were a relatively common sight during my recent visit to Mexico. Admittedly, few localities were as dense as this patch growing amongst a corn crop (where it was readily apparent that no corn would be harvested this season).
Many gardeners simply call this species cosmos. It has long been a cultivated ornamental, with several cultivars having received Award of Garden Merit designations from the Royal Horticultural Society. Unlike most annual species that offer showy displays but are low-growing, Cosmos bipinnatus can exceed 1.2m (4 ft.) in height. These particular plants were in the 1 to 1.2m range.
Cosmos bipinnatus is native to this area of central Mexico, but, because of its popularity in gardens (and subsequent escaping from), it can now be found naturalized in similar open, disturbed habitats on most continents.
An excellent account of this species in cultivation is available from Botany Boy’s Plant Encyclopedia: Cosmos bipinnatus.
As an aside, apologies for the shortage of entries lately–I have just (mostly) recovered from a cold. Dominic has been very busy, and a number of his entries will soon make an appearance!
I love cosmos – for me a nostalgic plant, memories of old family gardens.
My veggie garden grows cosmos that scares me. It is as high as an elephants thigh. I planted it from seed and did not realize what monster plants they can become. Whew.
I do love them.
Fantastic photo!
Lovely! Cosmos is one of my favorites.
Happy memories……….
A reliable standby in my pallet of annuals, tolerant of less water, very wind resistant (in spite of its height, the slender split leaves offer no wind resistance. A favorite for containers…I like to put a cloud of white ones under an outside flood for a spectacular delay (of course, I only use outside lights when expecting guests, and never keep them on long, because we have 12,500 moth species, that massively outnumber the bee species and are important BOTH as pollinators and a larval protein source for wild birds…the impact of our addiction to unnatural light is massively harmful to other species).
Sorry to hear about your cold. Not to worry we are happy of any plant posting. Here in Zone 4 I grow them because they self seed, they are lovely annual that keeps blooming all summer into late fall. There are also birds that feed on the seeds. Do you know of any Mexican birds that deed on the seeds of cosmos
wow! I have “a few” but nothing like that 🙂
So Beautiful
In Natal province in South Africa in April the sides of the roads for miles are covered in Cosmos. It is an amazing sight to see.
In South Africa, it used to be common, particularly alongside national roads in the highveld. There it is said to have been introduced along with the feed the British imported for their horses during the Anglo-Boer War (presumably the first such war – 1880-1881).