Planting guide

When to plant cosmos

Airy, daisy-like flowers on feathery foliage that thrive on neglect. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Flowers in: 8–11 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Colours: pink, white, orange, red, yellow, bicolour
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means cosmos can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant cosmos

Sow seed on the surface and press in lightly after frost.
Thin to 30cm; skip rich soil and fertiliser.
Stake tall types and pick often.
Deadhead to keep flowers coming.

Cosmos varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Bright Lights Mix Classiccolourful · heirloom · mixed · 8–11 wksMixed colours
Apricot Lemonade Classic12–14 wksCream flowers
Apricotta Classic10–12 wksApricot peach flowers
Cupcakes Blush Classic12–14 wksPink flowers
Polidor Mix Classicmixed · 8–11 wksMixed colours
Rubenza Classic12–14 wksBurgundy flowers