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Every year I try to include a few Sonata Cosmos in my flowerbeds. I’m charmed by their pretty blooms, especially the pink ones with the carmine eye. The plants grow 2-feet tall and prefer full sun and well-drained soil.
Other than deadheading, they really don’t require any care. They make an excellent addition to the cottage garden with their elegant, lacy foliage.
Their only negative is that they are difficult to start indoors. The seeds sprout just fine, but then the seedlings shoot up too fast like a gangly giraffe and get leggy and unwieldy. You can start seeds outside after the last frost date.
This year I got lucky by finding a beautiful flat of them at a garden center with strong, sturdy stems.