I sowed some of these in the greenhouse and planted them out in June as
it was a cold spring this year. The seed packet said height 2', but
they have grown to about 5'. They are lovely and bushy with a lot of
flower, but because of the unexpected height they have been grown
towards the front of the border and with the result are hiding other
plants. Should I have planted them out sooner?

"Syke" wrote in message
...
I sowed some of these in the greenhouse and planted them out in June as it
was a cold spring this year. The seed packet said height 2', but they have
grown to about 5'. They are lovely and bushy with a lot of flower, but
because of the unexpected height they have been grown towards the front of
the border and with the result are hiding other plants. Should I have
planted them out sooner?

No-one else has replied, so I've give you my two-penn'orth FWIW.
I'm not exactly experienced with Cosmos, having only grown it a few times
(my greenhouse deceased in a gale..) but I cannot see how planting them out
earlier would have reduced their ultimate height (if that is what you were
suggesting)?
If I buy seeds that promise 2' high Cosmos, although what I grew were a bit
taller than that, that is what I expect to get. 5' is a bit extraordinary.
They were not struggling for light at all were they? If not I might mention
it to the seedgrowers.
If my greenhouse was up and running I'd definitely grow them again, also
nicotiana in mixed colours. I used to go out into the garden in the late
evening just to swoon over the scent of my "tobacco plants"
More experienced Cosmos growers please come along and give better advice
that I can.

Tina

On Aug 30, 5:07*pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"Syke" wrote in message

...

I sowed some of these in the greenhouse and planted them out in June as it
was a cold spring this year. *The seed packet said height 2', but they have
grown to about 5'. *They are lovely and bushy with a lot of flower, but
because of the unexpected height they have been grown towards the front of
the border and with the result are hiding other plants. *Should I have
planted them out sooner?

No-one else has replied, so I've give you my two-penn'orth FWIW.
I'm not exactly experienced with Cosmos, having only grown it a few times
(my greenhouse deceased in a gale..) but I cannot see how planting them out
earlier would have reduced their ultimate height (if that is what you were
suggesting)?
If I buy seeds that promise 2' high Cosmos, although what I grew were a bit
taller than that, that is what I expect to get. *5' is a bit extraordinary.
They were not struggling for light at all were they? *If not I might mention
it to the seedgrowers.
If my greenhouse was up and running I'd definitely grow them again, also
nicotiana in mixed colours. *I used to go out into the garden in the late
evening just to swoon over the scent of my "tobacco plants"
More experienced Cosmos growers please come along and give better advice
that I can.

Tina

Ours have done the same to us and they were sown cold and late and
planted late. But hey. don't knock it - they've been a wonderful show
all summer and still going strong. We'll be able to sort out the
'buried' plants when we get the cosmos out in the autumn. After a year
without a garden and deprived of flowers while we moved in here and
worked on the house and workshop my wife specified the new garden -
what she wanted was FLOWERS please. She got them in spades.

Rod

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:08:10 +0100, Syke
wrote:

I sowed some of these in the greenhouse and planted them out in June as
it was a cold spring this year. The seed packet said height 2', but
they have grown to about 5'. They are lovely and bushy with a lot of
flower, but because of the unexpected height they have been grown
towards the front of the border and with the result are hiding other
plants. Should I have planted them out sooner?

I grow cosmos every year and find that their eventual height is often
down to what I ultimately plant them in; timing of planting doesn't
make any difference unless you plant out too early and get a late
frost. This year, mine have all been about 2-3 feet high but last
year, some planted in fresh compost in tubs grew to about 4 feet, some
planted in an "old" border were about 2 feet high and those planted in
a "refreshed" border - one I had cleared out, dug in manure and all
that and then replanted, produced really bushy plants, covered in
blooms and over 4 feet high.

I would always treat cosmos as a middle of the border plant, not a
front one. That said, this year I have 2 foot tall impatiens and all
my marigolds produced one bloom and then keeled over and snuffed it.
Gardening is like that - enjoy the surprises and put the failures down
to the idiots at the Met Office who can never get the forecast right.

"Rod" wrote
Ours have done the same to us and they were sown cold and late and
planted late. But hey. don't knock it - they've been a wonderful show
all summer and still going strong. We'll be able to sort out the
'buried' plants when we get the cosmos out in the autumn. After a year
without a garden and deprived of flowers while we moved in here and
worked on the house and workshop my wife specified the new garden -
what she wanted was FLOWERS please. She got them in spades.

Funny enough, my wife told me a couple of years ago that it was about time
we had a pretty garden with flowers instead of a collection of plants. I
wouldn't admit it to her but I actually prefer it too now it's coming along.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

On Aug 30, 10:59*pm, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
"Rod" *wrote Ours have done the same to us and they were sown cold and late and
planted late. But hey. don't knock it - they've been a wonderful show
all summer and still going strong. We'll be able to sort out the
'buried' plants when we get the cosmos out in the autumn. After a year
without a garden and deprived of flowers while we moved in here and
worked on the house and workshop my wife specified the new garden -
what she wanted was FLOWERS please. She got them in spades.

Funny enough, my wife told me a couple of years ago that it was about time
we had a pretty garden with flowers instead of a collection of plants. I
wouldn't admit it to her but I actually prefer it too now it's coming along.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Well you know, that's what I thought gardening was about - the edibles
are a given but after that it's flowers and plants. Then during my
last couple of years working a then new colleague started bringing the
glossy Garden fashion mags in to work and it all seemed to be about
garden structures, landscape features, statuary etc. Growing things
took a definite back seat.
All the while I was trying to make a garden that trancended fashion
and was full of happy interesting beautiful (mostly flowering) plants,
that looked comfortable with their neighbours - a very quaint idea.
I'm still doing much the same in the garden we've just made at home
but on a much smaller scale, though the sharp eyed might just spot a
young Magnolia obovata in a corner and I'm hoping it just might flower
while I'm still around to see it. I seem to have drifted o/t a bit but
just one more thing for the original poster - gardens work best if you
allow for a bit of serendipity to happen, too much control and you
lose that charm.

Rod