How to Grow and Care for Chocolate Cosmos Plants
Cosmos atrosanguineus
     
The dark maroon flowers appear on wirey 18 inch stems from June until frost and produce a pleasant chocolate scent,
especially on warm evenings. |
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Chocolate Cosmos can also be grown in containers provided that a high quality planting mix is used.
Growing Requirements for Chocolate Cosmos Plants
The Chocolate Cosmos plant is a tuberous perennial that is hardy in USDA zones 7-10, but with excellent drainage and heavy winter mulching it will often survive the winters in zone 6.
Chocolate Cosmos should be planted in full sun, in rich well draining soil.
Apply a good all-purpose fertilizer when new growth appears and again at mid-season.
Always remove the spent flowers promptly for continued blooms.
If you have doubts about the plants survival,
you can dig the tuber just as you would with Dahlias.
Once the foliage has died back, carefully dig the clump, cut the stems back to within 2 inches
of the tubers, and store them in slightly moist peat moss in a frost free place. |
Propagating Chocolate Cosmos Plants |
Chocolate Cosmos can be propagated by division of the tubers.
To produce a new plant, each tuber must have an eye (the new growth bud) which appears at the point where the tuber connects to the main stalk.
Using a sharp clean knife carefully separate tubers.
Discard any damaged tubers and any that don't contain an eye.
Place the tubers in a bed of sawdust or vermiculite, inside a cardboard or wooden box. Store them in a dry area where the temperature will remain at about 40 degrees F.
Check your tubers periodically during the winter for signs of shriveling (moisten the storage medium),
or for mildew treat with a dry fungicide such as captan.
Replant Chocolate Cosmos tubers 6" deep and 12" apart in the spring |
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Chocolate Cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus
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