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How to sow your free cosmos seeds
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Thursday, 8 April 2021 at 12:18 pm
Grow gorgeous cosmos from the free seeds in our May 2021 subscriber edition of BBC Gardeners' World Magazine.
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Fill your borders or containers with elegant daisy-like blooms. The bright, white flowers of Cosmos 'Purity' are ideal for creating vibrant contrasts in your planting schemes. They also work well in cut flower arrangements.
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Your May subscriber edition includes a free double-pack of seeds including Cosmos 'Purity' and Carrot 'Royal Chantenay 3'
More on growing cosmos
Follow our comprehensive cosmos Grow Guide and discover more beautiful varieties to try, in our collection of May extras. Plus find recipes for vibrant container combinations that'll show your cosmos off to best effect.
Grow gorgeous cosmos by following our step-by-step video guide, below.
You Will Need
- Cosmos seeds
- Multi-purpose compost
- 10cm pot
- Watering can with rose attachment
- Plant label
- Pencil or dibber
Step 1
Fill a 10cm pot or seed tray with multipurpose compost. Gently tamp the compost level so that the surface is around 1cm below the top of the pot.
Step 2
Sprinkle 8-10 seeds across the surface of your compost, spacing them out evenly - use a chopstick or pencil to move them if they're too close together. Cover with a 0.5cm layer of compost, and gently tamp that down. Add a label.
Step 3
Water thoroughly, using a watering can with a rose attachment. Then place somewhere warm and bright. Covering with clear polythene or placing in a propagator will help germination.
Step 4
Once your seedlings have germinated and are large enough to handle, fill a couple of larger pots with multipurpose compost and gently firm it down.
Step 5
Use a dibber, or a pencil or chopstick, to gently ease a seedling out of the pot. Take care to hold the seedling by the leaves and not the stem, to avoid crushing and breaking the stem.
Step 6
Use your dibber to make a hole in the compost in the larger pot, and gently place a seedling in. Firm the compost around the seedling so most of its stem is below the compost and it's held securely in place. You can fit around 4-5 seedlings in a 20cm pot. Transplant your remaining seedlings, using the same method, into your second large pot.
Add a label and water thoroughly, using a watering can with a rose attachment. Keep somewhere warm and bright until after the last frosts, and then gradually acclimatise to the outdoors. Transplant into a sunny border, spacing around 45cm apart.
Coming up - more free seeds
June: Zinnia and cornflower
June: Zinnia and Cornflower - Six Months of Seeds
Get speedy results with this colourful couple, worth £4.80
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- Zinnia 'Early Wonder' – large dahlia-like blooms in a mix of showy, vibrant colours
- Cornflower 'Blue Ball' - easy to grow, with masses of bee-friendly blooms, cornflowers are the perfect cottage garden flower
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