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to the Gardeners World Magazine sew along

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series. The podcast that inspires you to

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go more. Hello,

2:38

I'm Emma, the horticultural editor

2:40

of Gardeners World Magazine. I

2:43

sew Cosmos Bipinatus every year without

2:45

fail and sensation ticks all

2:47

the boxes for a great variety with

2:50

white and pink flowers in many shades. Its

2:54

height attracts me too as I enjoy

2:56

the spaces left in between the feathery

2:58

foliage and this quality is

3:00

magnified in a tall variety. I

3:03

like to sew more than once a year, a batch

3:06

indoors in pots of compost and another

3:08

sewn direct into the warm soil of

3:10

late spring or early summer. The

3:13

first can be started as soon as February before

3:16

the garden has woken up. It

3:18

needs warmth to germinate so a

3:21

propagator, heated mat or windowsill above

3:23

a radiator is required. Fortunately,

3:27

the seeds sprout quickly into bright

3:29

green shoots that are easy to spot.

3:33

Once pushing through the compost, they can

3:35

be grown on in gentle warmth. The

3:38

trick is to promote well-branched stocky

3:40

seedlings by keeping them just warm

3:42

enough, not too hot and

3:45

pinching out the shoot tips occasionally. Be

3:48

sure to cut off or pinch

3:50

off any flower buds that form before

3:52

you plant out. Cosmos

3:55

Bipinatus sensation are annual flowers and so

3:57

they put a huge effort into their

3:59

growth. flowering and seed production.

4:03

This is their method of producing future

4:05

generations and they have under

4:07

a year to achieve it. Other

4:09

plants such as trees take

4:12

several years to start making seed because

4:14

they live much longer and don't need

4:16

to rush. Annual

4:19

compost can make buds on only

4:21

the flimsiest of stems and often

4:23

begin just weeks after germination.

4:26

Forming flowers and seed heads takes energy

4:28

from the plants so don't let

4:31

them do it until you're ready because that

4:33

way they'll live longer. Save

4:35

the flower display until your seedlings

4:37

are planted out in the garden. On

4:40

the other hand don't plant out too early,

4:43

wait for warm weather and absolutely

4:45

no risk of frost. Your

4:47

task until that point is to keep them

4:50

watered as required. You can

4:52

pot on the seedlings into larger pots

4:54

of compost whenever their roots need more

4:56

space and of course keep up the

4:58

pinching out. The

5:03

second sewing method is the easiest

5:05

and simply involves preparing a seed

5:07

bed and station sewing the seeds directly

5:09

into the soil. Station

5:12

sewing means placing them in position

5:14

one by one. If

5:16

you put them 15 to 20 centimetres apart

5:19

and all of them germinate you

5:21

can remove around half of them

5:23

the weaker seedlings and the remainder

5:25

will be nicely spaced at around

5:27

30 to 40 centimetres apart. Using

5:31

this method you need no pots or

5:33

compost and spend very little time caring

5:36

for your seedlings only watering

5:38

when there's no rain. I find they

5:40

are less likely to produce premature flower

5:42

buds this way too. I suspect

5:45

the reason this method is less common

5:48

is that we are busy and our

5:50

flower beds are starting to fill up

5:52

in late spring or summer. The place

5:54

where direct sewing has worked best for me is

5:56

in a cut flower raised bed I keep on my

5:59

veg plot. It's

6:01

open situation means the plants

6:03

get lots of sunshine and because

6:05

the bed is kept for cutting flowers, I'm happy

6:07

to see some areas looking bare

6:10

while the seeds germinate and when

6:12

the seedlings are small. Cosmos

6:18

sensation thrives in sunshine. Its

6:21

ancestors hail from Mexico, Guatemala

6:23

and Costa Rica so

6:25

do make the most of it by allocating a

6:27

sunny spot. If

6:30

your borders are all shady, the

6:32

plants will grow well in a

6:34

large container of potting compost placed

6:36

wherever sunbeams benefit your garden. Do

6:39

fill the container with peat-free compost as

6:42

using peat would increase your carbon footprint.

6:46

Also remember to check the

6:49

container's watering needs and supply

6:51

irrigation regularly. Containers

6:54

dry up faster than soil and

6:56

cosmos looks unattractive when wilting. It

6:59

may recover from this but will be weakened

7:01

and its life shortened. Do

7:06

cut your cosmos blooms. Ideally

7:09

you'll be making up regular posies

7:11

and bouquets but if you have

7:13

no time for this be sure to deadhead. When

7:16

I'm very pushed for time I deadhead weekly

7:18

by trimming any over mature flowers and

7:20

letting them fall to the ground. It's

7:24

messier but faster than collecting them and

7:26

the benefits of keeping the plants going

7:28

far outweigh the untidiness of

7:30

a few spent flowers beneath

7:32

my plants. It's well worth

7:34

prolonging the life of your cosmos like this. They

7:37

can flower into November in a warm autumn

7:40

in competition with not much more than

7:42

the dahlias. Having kept

7:44

your plants flowering for longer you'll

7:46

also be benefiting the pollinators such

7:49

as butterflies which love sipping nectar

7:51

from the flowers and bees which

7:53

also harvest the pollen. To

7:57

grow more next year try leaving some

7:59

flowers alone. so you can collect

8:01

and save the seed. Cosmos

8:04

can suffer from one or two

8:06

problems. Slugs and snails

8:08

will nibble seedlings and flowers. Keep

8:11

slugs at bay by treating your beds

8:13

with nematodes and avoid snail attacks by

8:16

planting in a sunny spot. Healthy

8:18

and vigorous plants are best at throwing

8:21

off aphids and a healthy population of

8:23

insect predators will assist too. Grey

8:26

mould may attack in humid weather or the

8:28

greenhouse. Space the plants

8:30

well to discourage this. Giving

8:32

plants very rich soil or lots

8:34

of fertilizer can result in large

8:37

specimens with healthy foliage and very

8:39

few flowers, so avoid

8:41

feeding if your plants are already

8:43

looking healthy. Love

8:53

growing from seed? You get free

8:55

seeds with the March, April and May issues

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of BBC Gardeners World magazine. Get

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your copy in stores or

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at magsdirect.co.uk. Our May

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issue also includes our two-for-one gardens entry

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