Monster cosmos!

Hi! I haven't a clue, myself, about growing Cosmos, but this link might prove invaluable:

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/cosmos

Hope it manages to flower for you before the first of the frosts.

I thought it was about the sky and origins of the planets! ?

Thank you, Poshpaws.

I grew some from seed, they to were enormous, probably just shy of yours, as it was the first time I thought that was normal, they're going over now.

My cosmos have been glorious this year, I had to dead head daily and they are still flowering. However my morning glory started flowering this week in the midst of wind and rain ( it’s south facing) I’ve trained it to go past a window and am loving it. Better late than never.

I've grown tall cosmos most years, though not this. They do get very tall and were flowering as late as November if you just keep them staked so they don't fall over in high winds etc. If no flowers come then the feathery foliage is lovely in floral arrangements.

Ours are extremely tall this year too. Monty Don said you should top them to keep them lower but ours are quite nice being tall and willowy. They look so pretty in a breeze

I got a packet of cottage garden seeds early Summer. The cosmos came up about 2 months ago. They are massive with tiny buds!

Same here and full of flower

Our cosmos are still going strong. We live at the top of a hill where it can be very windy so they have to be staked regularly otherwise they lean and all the lovely pink flowers are on the earth. They have grown exceptionally tall this year.

Cosmos still going strong here too. This year for the first time I didn't grow them in trays in the usual half-hardy annual way, I just scattered them on the soil. It worked a dream.

I top half of mine and leave the others. That way I get a mix and it's kind of an insurance policy as in the past I've had strong winds snap the willowy ones off.

I have grown cosmos from seed for a few years. Usually 'sensation mixed'. They grow about five feet tall in my garden. This is too high for where they are so last year I tried 'dwarf sensation mixed'. They were anything but dwarf! I did grow one called 'antiquity' (or something similar). This was shorter but I wasn't keen on the colour. It was a dull pinky bronze and not as nice as it looked on the packet.

They do look lovely as the foliage is also very pretty.

This year I also heard Monty Don say to cut the tops off so that they will bush out and grow less tall. I am planning to try that next year.

Also, a couple of mine blew over in a a strong wind. Lesson learned. I will stake them next year.