Fothergill's Cosmos Xanthos Seeds

Details:

• Botanical Name: Cosmos bipinnatus 'Xanthos', a highly celebrated and innovative breakthrough within the Cosmos genus.
• Plant Class: Half Hardy Annual, establishing with incredible speed from a spring sowing to burst into a heavy, continuous flush of blooms within the exact same season.
• Unique Soft Yellow Palette: Bears elegant, single daisy-like flowers in an exceptionally rare shade of soft pastel lemon-yellow, subtly finished with a lighter, creamy-white collar around a golden central eye.
• Compact & Self-Supporting Growth: Displays a neatly mounded, dense, and well-branched medium habit, reaching a highly manageable mature height of 60cm (2ft) and a spread of 45cm (18in). This compact frame requires absolutely no staking.
• The Ultimate Container Choice: Because of its neat, controlled growth and heavy blooming nature, it is a premier candidate for large patio pots, window boxes, or planting along the front-to-mid borders.
• Dainty Feathered Foliage: Clothed in soft, finely cut, feathery bright green leaves that create a light, airy texture that beautifully complements the soft pastel tones of the flowers.
• Pollinator Friendly: Features wide-open, highly accessible single blossoms with glowing golden centers that act as an essential natural refueling station for butterflies, honeybees, and bumblebees.
• Optimal Position: Thrives at its absolute best when positioned in a bright, open spot in full sun, showing excellent natural heat and drought resilience once fully established in poorer, free-draining soils.

Care Instructions:

• Sowing Position: Start seeds early indoors from March to April in trays of moist, free-draining compost, or sow directly outdoors in May where they are to flower once all danger of spring frost has safely passed. Position in full sun.
• Planting Out & Spacing: For indoor-started seedlings, gradually acclimatise them to outdoor conditions before transplanting. Space the young plants roughly 30–45cm apart to allow their branching framework room to develop smoothly.
• Maintenance: Avoid over-fertilising the soil, as high fertility will encourage excessive leaf production at the expense of flowers. Deadhead spent blooms regularly to relentlessly trigger a non-stop succession of fresh, creamy yellow buds right up until autumn.