THE BEAUTIFUL COSMOS 
By Clarence M. Weed 
r ~ nPHE cosmos is one of the 
most satisfactory an¬ 
nuals for a border 
garden, both on 
account of the 
grace of its foliage 
and the beauty of 
its blossoms. It 
may be grown as 
easily as any of 
the garden vege¬ 
tables and on ac¬ 
count of tbe size 
and density of its 
foliage it may be 
used to great ad¬ 
vantage along 
fences, walls and 
tbe sides of build¬ 
ings. By choos¬ 
ing tbe tall varieties 
to plant next to tbe 
wall or fence and 
tbe dwarf varieties 
Yy to plant in front 
one may get a most 
beautiful effect du r- 
ing tbe latter part 
of tbe season, tbe flowers of tbe dwarf forms begin¬ 
ning practically at tbe ground and extending upward 
for many feet with a beautiful background of foliage 
for their display. Last October I saw some cosmos 
m Massachusetts bearing blossoms at a height of 
more than ten feet, producing one of tbe most striking 
effects I have ever seen in landscape gardening. 
The seed of tbe cosmos may be started in a hot¬ 
bed, greenhouse or window-garden early in tbe sea¬ 
son and transplanted out of doors when danger of 
frost is past. Or tbe seeds may be planted in a drill 
out-of-doors in May and tbe young seedlings trans¬ 
planted, when they are an inch or two high, to the 
place where they are to grow. These seedlings are 
vigorous little plants with a compact root system, so 
that they are very easy to transplant. In a rich soil 
and with plenty of moisture they grow with great 
rapidity, sending up fine, fern-like foliage which gives 
an attractive effect long before tbe flowers appear. 
Even the buds have a decidedly decorative value, 
being rounded in general outline though flattened 
on the outer end and more or less enclosed by a 
double row of long, pointed, green, leaf-like growths 
called bracts. 
THE WHITE COSMOS 
When the ffowers appear the plant becomes very 
conspicuous and attractive. 1 hree sorts are com¬ 
monly grown. In one the ffowers are a beautiful 
glistening white, in another they are an exquisite pink 
color and in a third they are a deep red, the last 
named variety being the least attractive of the three. 
1 he structure of the ffower in each of these sorts 
of cosmos is similar. Around the base of tbe blos¬ 
som there is a double row of long, pointed, deep 
green bracts, with a more definite lighter colored 
series above them. The chief attractiveness of the 
blossom is given by tbe petal-like ray florets, of 
which there are usually eight and which are sent 
A JAPANESE FLOWER JAR WITH COSMOS 
172 
