Cosmos always give me hope as a gardener. When things are crashing all around us in the world, or even our own backyard gardens (the dog getting up on his hind legs to rip out carrots from the raised bed to feed his newfound addiction to root veggies comes to mind...), with cosmos you can just scratch the surface of the ground, sprinkle the seeds without any concern for perfection, give it a quick water and forget about it til summer.
Cosmos are great to fill in spots, they grow back with exuberance, and if you don't like where they're growing? Just pull them out because there's tons more to come. I don't have guilt about cutting these - or the ubiquitous California Poppy that the former owner seemed to have adored - because of that. The colors are vibrant and for me, red is just intoxicating on almost any plant, you know? The Velouette is actually a striped cosmos, starting out with nearly pure red in the first blooms and then leading to red ones with white stripes. Kind of a trip.
And if you don't like the ones you planted? Remember, you've spent less than you would on a take-out latte for the entire package of seeds...
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