A close-up of a pink and white cosmos bloom, grown from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd’s Cosmos Sensation Mixed seeds, features a yellow center against a blurred blue sky and cloud background.
A close-up of a pink and white cosmos bloom, grown from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd’s Cosmos Sensation Mixed seeds, features a yellow center against a blurred blue sky and cloud background.Close-up of pink cosmos flowers with yellow centers from Cosmos Sensation Mixed by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd, surrounded by green foliage and buds in a garden with a soft, blurred background.A yellow circular badge with a black and white bee illustration and “RHS PLANTS FOR POLLINATORS” in black capitals—perfect for highlighting Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd’s Cosmos Sensation Mixed seeds.A close-up of a pink cosmos flower with a yellow center, set against green foliage and a wooden fence—perfect inspiration for those growing cottage garden blooms from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd’s Cosmos Sensation Mixed seeds.Bright pink and purple Cosmos Sensation Mixed from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd bloom in a garden bed under a partly cloudy sky, with green foliage and blurred cottage flowers—ideal for planting from these seeds.Close-up of vibrant pink blooms from Cosmos Sensation Mixed by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd, with fresh dew on green foliage and a blue sky, adding charm to this classic cottage garden flower display.A close-up of Cosmos Sensation Mixed by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd highlights its pink and white petals and yellow center, with a bee collecting nectar amid delicate green foliage in the background.A green trophy icon is centered in a circular logo with "RHS Award of Garden Merit" around the edge. Perfect for Cosmos Sensation Mixed by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd; a ® symbol is at the logo’s lower right.Cosmos Sensation Mixed seeds from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd produce tall pink and lavender wildflowers, bringing a vibrant, natural touch to any garden under the open sky.
Annual Pollinator AGM

Cosmos Sensation Mixed

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Sensation Mixed' — the classic large-flowered cottage garden Cosmos

£2.50approx. 100 seeds

The benchmark cottage Cosmos — large pink, white and carmine daisies on tall stems from July to November. RHS Award of Garden Merit. The most productive cut flower in the patch.

Sowing months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Height
90–120cm
Spread
50cm
Spacing
45cm
Position
Full sun
Soil
Poor, lean, UNFED soil only — the most important Cosmos growing rule
Grow guide
How to grow Cosmos Sensation Mixed
Read the full guide →
About this variety

The benchmark. Large single flowers, 8 to 10cm, in the full range of pinks, whites and carmines on stems of 90 to 120cm, and no other plant in a cutting patch produces this many stems per square metre.

It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit, and it is the one to give a beginner, because it is close to unkillable given sun and poor soil. Sow in spring, plant out after the frosts, keep cutting, and it will supply a household with flowers from July until the frosts finish it in November.

Two notes on the mix. You get what you get, since there is no sorting by colour before the buds open, and the deep carmine tends to be the most vigorous, so a self-seeded colony drifts towards magenta within a few years. Pull the ones you do not want while they are small. And here is the standard cosmos warning again, because it is the thing that goes wrong most often: do not feed it, and do not plant it in good soil. Rich ground gives you a huge leafy plant and almost no flowers.

Plant alongside

Cosmos Sensation Mixed pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics

Cosmos Purity
Cosmos Purity
£2.40
Rose Campion
Rose Campion
£2.10
Ammi majus
Ammi majus
£2.20

RHS Plants for Pollinators

This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →

RHS Award of Garden Merit

The RHS Award of Garden Merit is given to plants of outstanding excellence for ordinary garden use. To earn this award a plant must be of good constitution, available to the gardening public, and perform reliably across a range of UK growing conditions. It is one of the most trusted plant recommendations in British gardening and a genuine mark of quality.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →