Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

martha 10/12/2014, 5:15 pm

Planted cosmos last year as part of companion planting/attracting beneficials. I was pleased to see volunteers this year. But they kept growing…and growing…and growing… with no flowers. Finally today -

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Cosmos10

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Cosmos10

It's about 6' tall, the stalks are bigger than my thumb. Apparently this is pretty common with volunteer cosmos, but from my reading, I expected them to be orange, because those are the ones that tend to do this.

I found it amusing - possibly it has to be in your own garden to be entertained!

**camprn** 10/12/2014, 5:18 pm

OOOOOOOooooh White and volunteers too. Very nice!

Dunkinjean 10/12/2014, 5:21 pm

Beautiful flower and so tall!
I just bought some seeds to plant in the spring...

Marc Iverson 10/12/2014, 5:53 pm

I had no idea they got so big. I thought they were more like daisies.

martha 10/12/2014, 9:08 pm

Marc, they typically don't, but they also don't typically wait until mid-October to bloom!

Windmere 10/13/2014, 9:33 am

I love volunteer flowers. What a beauty you have!

martha 10/13/2014, 12:12 pm

Thank you, Windmere! If it stays warm enough long enough for all the buds to bloom, it will be dramatically gorgeous!

Windmere 10/16/2014, 4:37 pm

Hi all. I noticed I have some volunteer Diablo Cosmos that are the children of a volunteer that began to grow in spring. Well, these "babies" are about 4 inches tall. Are they doomed to die in the winter cold? I've never had volunteer flowers this late in the seasons. Does anyone have any advice regarding these volunteers?

yolos 10/16/2014, 5:41 pm

Windmere wrote:Hi all. I noticed I have some volunteer Diablo Cosmos that are the children of a volunteer that began to grow in spring. Well, these "babies" are about 4 inches tall. Are they doomed to die in the winter cold? I've never had volunteer flowers this late in the seasons. Does anyone have any advice regarding these volunteers?

They will probably die with the first freeze (mine do). Are there any buds yet?? All of the flowers in my garden this year are volunteers from last year. Marigolds and Cosmos. They are growing in the aisles with bine bark nuggets covering over newspaper. Very hardy. All the flowers in the following pictures are late growing babies of volunteers that grew in the spring.
Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Cosmos10

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Cosmos11

They are smaller than their parents I guess because they did not have any fertilizer or much water in the aisles.

martha 10/17/2014, 11:54 am

But they are lovely, Yolos!

Here's how mine are doing today. Photo isn't great - I took it with my cell phone. What you can't see in the photo is the fact that the flowers are buzzing with huge amounts of honey bees! More than I saw all season!

okay

Windmere 10/18/2014, 1:29 pm

Thank you yolos and martha for your responses. Yes, I thought those poor cosmos of ours were doomed. They are only about 5 inches high. My daughter asked me to ask the forum... just in case there was a ray of hope.

There are now tiny larkspur seedlings coming up too. Perhaps some of those seeds will got dormant like last year.

Well thanks again ladies. Smile

**Kelejan** 10/18/2014, 4:07 pm

Windmere wrote:Thank you yolos and martha for your responses. Yes, I thought those poor cosmos of ours were doomed. They are only about 5 inches high. My daughter asked me to ask the forum... just in case there was a ray of hope.

There are now tiny larkspur seedlings coming up too. Perhaps some of those seeds will got dormant like last year.

Well thanks again ladies.

I wonder if you covered them with fall leaves they might survive and continue growing next year?

yolos 10/18/2014, 4:44 pm

Kelejan wrote:
Windmere wrote:Thank you yolos and martha for your responses. Yes, I thought those poor cosmos of ours were doomed. They are only about 5 inches high. My daughter asked me to ask the forum... just in case there was a ray of hope.

There are now tiny larkspur seedlings coming up too. Perhaps some of those seeds will got dormant like last year.

Well thanks again ladies.

I wonder if you covered them with fall leaves they might survive and continue growing next year?

Most of the varieties of cosmos are annuals.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cosmos-perennial-57914.html

Windmere 10/18/2014, 10:40 pm

yolos wrote:
Kelejan wrote:
Windmere wrote:Thank you yolos and martha for your responses. Yes, I thought those poor cosmos of ours were doomed. They are only about 5 inches high. My daughter asked me to ask the forum... just in case there was a ray of hope.

There are now tiny larkspur seedlings coming up too. Perhaps some of those seeds will got dormant like last year.

Well thanks again ladies.

I wonder if you covered them with fall leaves they might survive and continue growing next year?

Most of the varieties of cosmos are annuals.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cosmos-perennial-57914.html

Wow... I really like that chocolate cosmos yolos! I'm imagining that planted with a Diablo Cosmos (bright orange) and then a Dwarf French Marigold - Queen Sophia - (burgundy/orange bicolor) in the foreground.... hmmmm

Thanks for that posting that link yolos. And thanks Kelejan for your response.

**AtlantaMarie** 10/19/2014, 8:21 am

Those look great, Martha!! I'm glad they finally bloomed for you!

Windmere 11/13/2014, 5:45 pm

Well, today my wife took this picture of the volunteer cosmos from my daughter's raised bed. I transplanted the four seedlings to a northeast facing spot next to a pine tree (hoping the tree could offer some shelter). They have done valiantly well, up until now. I think tonight will be then end of them. Below is one of the little volunteers.

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Winter11

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014! Winter11

martha 11/15/2014, 9:36 pm

Is that lentana off to the left? I love those!

Windmere 11/23/2014, 5:59 pm

martha wrote:Is that lentana off to the left? I love those!

Martha, sorry it took me so long to reply to your question. On the left is a small chrysanthemum and on the right is dianthus.

martha 11/24/2014, 11:48 pm

Thank you!

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Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

I have some volunteers too... but they're babies

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Guess they're doomed

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

They tried really hard...

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Left and right

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!

Re: Volunteer Cosmos - 1st bloom 10/12/2014!


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