Cosmos

Cosmos is the easiest cut flower in the garden: direct sow, ignore, harvest. Unlike most cutting flowers it performs better in poor soil, because rich ground pushes leafy growth at the expense of bloom. The ferny foliage is good filler on its own, and the plants reach 3 to 6 feet depending on the variety.

Sow after last frost directly where it will grow, a quarter inch deep, and thin to 12 to 18 inches; it resents transplanting less than most, but it is so quick from seed that there is no need. Sow again every few weeks until midsummer for flowers until frost. Pinch the young plants once at 12 inches for more stems, and cut when the petals have just opened flat; a flower cut fully open drops its petals in a day. Deadhead or keep cutting and it does not stop.

Native to Mexico, it is an annual everywhere in the US. Bees, butterflies and hoverflies work the open flowers, and goldfinches take the seed. Let a few plants go to seed at the end of the season and there will be volunteers the following spring. Deer rarely bother it.