The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-13
A DAINTY AUTUMN FLOWER.
The Cosmos, Which Is Likely to Be
the Next Floral Fad.
Philadelphia Record.

Fnlladelphla RECORD.
The cosmos. daintiest flower of the au-
tumn, as grown in our gardens, Is very
nearly as nature made Ii. 1t is a weed in
Mexico and Texas, from whence Ii has
come to us: but there the petals are mar
row, and with space between, giving a
star-shaped flower. Cultivation and the
climate calling for more clothes, perhaps,
has broadened the petals and thickened
their texture. This is the one change in
the blooms on the Atlantic slope. But 9TH
ers are coming. Soon we shall have doubles
and twisters-fringed and quilted and in the
full line of cOlOrS.
cosmos is as full of freaks as the chrysan-
themum, and, closely related to the dahlia,
1t may rival both in variety of types and
colors. In her own garden the cosmos is
in bloom the year around. First, the volun-
teer crop from self-sown seeds, the plants
coming up in February began blooming in
March, low plants, but superb flowers.
April and May-sown seeds gave exceedingly
tall plants. that began blooming in August.
while July sown seeds continued the success
sion through autumn and winter. and a
volunteer crop of seeds of these came up
in October and bloomed in November, less
than a month from the seed.
There seems to be almost no limit to
the cosmos sportiveness in California gar
dens. The regulation number of petals is
eight, but there they show fourteen and
sixteen, thus giving the promise of doubles.
are slucer-shaped, the broad Overlapping
outside petals inclosing the short, narrow
ones within. Some are broad petaled and
of white lily-like substance; others have
the petals in part united. and the flowers
on their long slender stems, swaying in
the wind, seem playing at being butter
flies. Some have fan-shaped petals, with
fiaring frills and pleats. Colors range
from white through pink and crimson
to black, and there is even a yellow and A
maroon. "Tints of Dawn" a Pacific coast
variety, has the white ground flushed
with pink and mauve. Some have the
base of each petal darker and showing as
a ring.
The cosmos with us is usually tall grow
ing, and we pride ourselves upon their
overlap ping the fences and watching the
doings in all the back yards of the block
Where there is size ii is at the expense of
bloom. There is a knack in cosmos grow
ing. If the growing plants are in rich soil
or are we'll fed, there will be growth of
plant-almost to tree SIZE and the few
blooms will lack size. For plenty of bloom
and of good-sized flowers the tendency to
height must be checked by cutting This
will give low branching plants, earlier
flowers and larger. The growing plants
must be fed lightly. even TO having a
struggle for existence; but when the buds
appear or the tendency TO bloom is appar-
ent, then. as with the dahla. there must
be food in plenty.
At the months meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Horticultural Society the Henry r
Mitchell prizes for the best and second best
vases OF cosmos mixed colors. there We're
some twenty-five entries, all told, several
thousands of blooms. All were of the
same red, white and pink types. but cul-
ture and grouping in the gave such
distinctiveness to each exhibit that there
was no monotony. even TO those to whom
all of a kind look alike. The display was
the best of cosmos ever made before the
society. The awards were, first. for the
mammoth blooms of good texture and color
and dne foliage Grown by w. II. Carey.