Cosmos

Cosmos bipinnatus

Asteraceae

Feathery foliage and a simple daisy on a tall stem — the airy insectary that does not shade a vegetable the way sunflower can.

Garden cosmos. Not a food crop. Chocolate cosmos (C. atrosanguineus) is a different, tender tuber.

Parts used: Flower (cut and insectary)
Traditional notes: Cut flower · Pollinator strip · Self-sown cottage edge
Grow · USDA 6b: Tender annual Direct after frost. Do not baby it. In work: May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct
Harvest: Cut when the petals are just back from the disk.

Lean dirt, full sun, a rough brush stake.
Leave the last heads for finches and next year’s volunteers.

Safety

Not a salad flower

Companions

Plant with Anise hyssop, Bee balm, Borage, Calendula, Cornflower, Dahlia.

Lore

Kosmos is Greek for order — the petals are so regular the name is a joke at nature’s expense. Spanish-Mexican gardens had it before European catalogs did. The chocolate cosmos is a different species, a tuber, and a conservatory plant.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.