As August turns to September, our flowering plants start to wither, but in many gardens, the cheery garden cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) is still blooming strong. Its delicate-appearing blooms come in shades of white, pink, purple and rich magenta, and its foliage is soft and lacy.
But don’t be deceived — cosmos is an easy-to-grow annual that can take a lot of neglect and requires no support to stay standing tall. A member of the Asteraceae family and native to Mexico, this beautiful, flowering plant is also known as Mexican aster.
Pollinators loves it. Get up early and you may find male bumble bees enjoying a snooze on the broad petals. As the day begins to warm, honey bees, long-horned and other bees show up to forage. Keep an eye out and you are sure to see a wide variety of pollinators and other insects enjoying them as well!
