How to Grow Cosmos
'Apricotta' from Seed
A completely new colour in Cosmos — soft apricot, peach, and cantaloupe melon tones blending within each petal, with a subtle mauve-pink ring around the golden disc; a sophisticated designer cut flower that looks like a high-end wedding bouquet and grows with the same easy reliability as any other Cosmos from seed
When 'Apricotta' was released it did something genuinely rare in the plant breeding world: it introduced a colour that had never before appeared in Cosmos bipinnatus. The Cosmos palette — which had for decades consisted of white, pink, crimson, and magenta — had no apricot, no peach, no cantaloupe orange. 'Apricotta' broke that palette entirely. The flowers blend apricot at the petal edges with a warmer peach tone towards the centre, and a subtle mauve-pink ring around the central golden disc adds a further layer of complexity — three distinct tones within a single petal, shifting as the light catches them at different angles through the day.
It carries a sophisticated, vintage, "designer" quality that is unusual for an annual cut flower grown from seed — a quality usually associated with garden roses or dahlias that require significantly more effort and investment. 'Apricotta' provides it from a seed packet, at full cutting garden height (90–120cm), with the same effortless Cosmos productivity: the more you cut, the more it flowers, continuously from midsummer to the first frosts of November.
Quick Facts at a Glance
Plant Type
Half-Hardy Annual (H2)
Colour
Apricot · peach · cantaloupe — three tones in one petal
Sow Indoors
March–April at 20°C
Height
90–120cm; full cutting garden height
Golden Rule
Poor soil, NO feeding — the Cosmos starvation rule
Difficulty Rating
2 out of 5 — easy; just resist the urge to feed
Understanding the Plant
Cosmos bipinnatus is a half-hardy annual native to the sun-baked grasslands and scrubland of Mexico, where it grows in warm, dry, nutrient-poor conditions. This origin explains one of the most counter-intuitive facts about growing Cosmos anywhere in the world: the richer the soil and the more fertiliser applied, the fewer flowers produced. In poor Mexican scrubland conditions, the plant channels energy into flowering (seed production) as quickly as possible. In rich, fertilised garden soil, it channels energy into the luxuriant vegetative growth that would outcompete neighbours in a fertile environment — and flowers barely at all.
⚠️ The Starvation Rule — The Most Important Cosmos Fact
Do not feed Cosmos. Do not plant in freshly manured ground. Do not add compost to the planting area. Growing 'Apricotta' in rich soil or applying any nitrogen-containing fertiliser will produce a magnificent plant of deeply ferny foliage at up to 1.5m — and almost no flowers. The same plant in poor, lean, unfed ground will produce hundreds of apricot-peach flowers continuously from midsummer to November. This is the single most important growing rule for all Cosmos varieties and the most commonly broken one. Treat them mean: they reward neglect with flowers.
The Colour Break — What Makes 'Apricotta' Genuinely Different
'Apricotta' represents a genuine plant breeding achievement: a colour that had never existed in the Cosmos bipinnatus range before its introduction. The warm apricot-orange-peach palette was simply absent from this species, which had historically offered only cool tones (white, pink, magenta, crimson) and no warm ones. The name — a blend of "apricot" and the Italian feminine suffix — signals both the colour and the aspirational, romantic quality of the variety. Fleuroselect recognised it with an award designation, independently confirming that it represents a genuinely significant and distinctive new entry to the garden plant palette.
Sowing & Growing On
Sow March–April Indoors for Midsummer Flowers
Cosmos germinates very quickly — 5–14 days at 20°C — and grows fast from seed. Sow indoors in March or April for plants that flower from July. Too early a sowing (before March) produces leggy seedlings waiting too long indoors before outdoor planting; too late (May or after) delays flowering. March–April in warmth is the optimal window for UK conditions.
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Sow indoors March–April at 5mm depth, 20°C. Sow into seed compost in individual modules or small pots. Cover to 5mm. Keep at 20°C — a warm windowsill or propagator. Germination in 5–14 days. The seedlings are distinctive: thin, narrow, paired leaves on a wiry green stem.
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Pinch the growing tip when plants reach 20cm. This is the single most important management step for productive Cosmos. When seedlings reach approximately 20cm — with three or four sets of true leaves — pinch out the growing tip (remove the top 2–3cm of stem above a leaf joint). The plant responds by pushing multiple side shoots from every leaf joint below the cut, transforming from a single thin stem into a bushy, well-branched plant with five to ten flowering stems instead of one.
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Harden off and plant out late May–June, after all frost risk. Cosmos is frost-tender — even a light frost kills young plants. Harden off over two weeks from mid-May (put plants outside during warm days, bring in at night). Plant out when night temperatures are consistently above 5°C. Space 45cm apart in a sunny position on lean, well-drained, unfed soil.
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Deadhead every 2–3 days for continuous flowering. Cosmos is a true cut-and-come-again flower. Every flower removed — whether cut for a vase or deadheaded — triggers the production of new buds. Let flowers go to seed and production slows. Cut every two to three days in peak season (July–September) and 'Apricotta' continues flowering until November's first hard frost.
Growing On & Care
Cut Flower Excellence
Cut 'Apricotta' early in the morning when buds are just beginning to open — the outer petals slightly separated but the centre still closed. This stage gives the longest vase life: 7–10 days. Strip all lower feathery foliage from the stem below the water line before placing in a vase — decomposing foliage shortens vase life significantly. Change water every two to three days.
Warm Palette Companions
The apricot-peach tones of 'Apricotta' pair beautifully with soft blues and deep purples — the complementary colour relationship between warm orange-peach and cool blue creates the most vivid mutual enhancement. Clary Sage 'Oxford Blue' and 'Apricotta' together is a particularly striking combination. Also exceptional alongside soft whites (Cosmos 'Purity', Ammi majus) that allow the warm tones to read without competition.
Wedding Floristry
'Apricotta' consistently appears in warm-toned wedding floristry for its large, flat, open flower form and its sophisticated, vintage quality. The apricot-peach palette works exceptionally well in late summer weddings where warm, soft colour schemes are sought — alongside garden roses in blush and peach, sweet peas in blush, and foliage in bronze-green or silver.
The Feathery Foliage
Cosmos bipinnatus has exceptionally fine, feathery, thread-like foliage — often described as ferny — that catches and filters wind and light in the border, creating the movement that makes a Cosmos planting so lively in any breeze. The foliage itself is a design asset in the cutting garden, used as filler in arrangements. Cosmos stems stripped of their lower foliage can be used as a feathery green filler element in hand-tied bouquets.
Pollinator Value
The large, open, flat daisy flowers of 'Apricotta' provide very easy pollinator access — an accessible landing platform with nectar clearly visible at the central disc. Bees, butterflies, and hoverflies visit continuously through the flowering season. The sustained flowering period from July through November makes Cosmos one of the most important late-season pollinator plants available to UK gardens, when many other species have finished.
Self-Seeding
Allow some late-season 'Apricotta' flowers to set seed fully. The pointed brown seeds can be collected as seed heads dry on the stem, stored in a paper envelope in a cool dry place, and used for next season's sowing. Self-seeded 'Apricotta' plants from seeds dropped in autumn may emerge the following spring in warm positions — they tend to flower earlier than deliberately sown plants.
When to Expect Flowers
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| 🌱 Sow indoors |
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| 🌿 Plant out |
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| 🌸 Flowers |
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Common Problems & Solutions
| Problem | Likely Cause | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Lots of foliage, almost no flowers | Rich soil; any fertiliser; manured ground | This is the most common Cosmos problem — and it has only one cause. Rich soil or any nitrogen fertiliser produces magnificent ferny foliage and almost no flowers. Dig up and replant in the leanest, most unfed position in the garden. Do not add any soil improvers. The same plant in poor ground will flower prolifically within weeks. |
| Single-stemmed, sparse plant | Growing tip not pinched | Pinch the growing tip when plants reach 20cm — remove the top 2–3cm above a leaf joint. This is essential for Cosmos. Without pinching, plants produce a single main stem with very limited branching. With pinching, five to ten flowering stems develop from the lower leaf joints within two to three weeks. |
| Plants dying after planting out | Frost damage; planted too early | Wait until late May or June before planting out. Even a light frost kills Cosmos. Harden off gradually over two weeks before planting — take outside during warm days, bring in each evening. If unexpected frost is forecast, cover with fleece or bring back indoors overnight. |
| Flowering season short | Deadheading or cutting not frequent enough | Cut or deadhead every two to three days during peak flowering. Allow even one week's lapse and seed production begins, significantly slowing further flower production. The July–November season is only achievable with regular, consistent cutting. |
Plant Specifications
The colour that changed Cosmos — apricot, peach, and cantaloupe from a seed packet
'Apricotta' genuinely broke the Cosmos colour range when it appeared — the warm apricot-peach-melon palette had simply never existed in this species before. It looks like a designer cut flower, it photographs like a wedding bouquet, and it grows with the effortless productivity of any Cosmos: more cuts, more flowers, all summer, all autumn, from poor soil in full sun. Sow in March, pinch at 20cm, plant in the leanest position you have, cut every few days, and discover what the Fleuroselect judges already knew — this is one of the most beautiful things you can grow from seed.
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