Years ago I noted some cosmos seed I'd put out had germinated but was growing in an unexpected way. The little orange flowers were slow to appear while the leaves were larger and the plant supporting them was bigger than the rest. A whole lot bigger. Several feet, in fact.
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| GIANT! 6 feet tall and no signs of stopping |
Curious, I let one of the plants grow to see how tall it would get. It reached nearly 6 feet and was covered in flowers throughout October. Unlike the hybridized cosmos varieties purported to be in my seed packet, this was apparently a throwback
cosmos sulphureus, which varies in height but can reach 7 feet. The giant plants grew at a fairly slow steady rate until the September rains arrived and then kicked into high gear, putting on another two to three feet in height. Predictably enough with a plant several feet tall covered in flowers that became seeds, it self propagated out fairly widely.
Every year since I've had a handful of regular sized cosmos come up and a handful of the giants as well. According to
Bob at Gardening at Draco, who got giant cosmos seed from a woman he met who worked at a nursery, the cosmos sulphureus plants seed out true to form. Though I think mine came mistakenly mixed in a packet with the hybridized seed that stay in the 12-18 inch range, I found it a happy accident. I welcomed these 4-7 foot giants.
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| Hybridized Cosmos, about 18 inches tall |
Now I typically pull out all the giant throwbacks with the exception of one or two that seem well placed. This year's version had just started to bloom. It was kicking into one last growth spurt as it climbed to nearly 7 feet. And then disaster struck. I don't know how it happened - there were no torrential rains or bursts of wind, no signs of digging or chewing or disturbance of any kind. One day I went out to weed and water, and the giant had fallen, tearing apart at the main stem.
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| Regular cosmos at lower left, giant cosmos sulphureus the day before it fell. RIP, big guy. |
I couldn't let those blooms go to waste. I snipped off all the flowering branch tops and popped them into a vase of water to enjoy indoors. There is one intact flowering branch remaining attached to the main stem, and it will simply have to carry the reseeding burden for the entire plant this season.
I think these golden flowers are gorgeous, indoors or out. I am sorry to lose the mass of flowers out in the beds though. Reportedly, cosmos attracts monarch butterflies, and I was hoping to get some royal visitors here this year. I do have some seed stored from past year's plants (if I can find it!) and I'll put that into play at the appropriate time. Trowels crossed that will guarantee the reappearance of these butterfly friendly giants for years to come.
In the meantime, I'll enjoy the visitors I am getting, like this Vanessa cardui happily nectaring on Lantana. This butterfly might not be royally designated, but I am thrilled to have it drop in.
