I used to plant cosmos, the tall brilliant orange kind (below) along my driveway. They're very pretty, and they also come in a stunning pink and white variety. Unfortunately, they're also very tall and they kind of got in the way when driving in and out. So I eventually stopped planting those.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago. I had a bare patch of ground that I had never tried to grow anything on. It's at the end of some low shrubs and, because it's on the border of my property and the neighbor's, it's a convenient place for the mail carrier to cross over. Still, there was room at the end for something pretty. But...the ground had never been worked. It was hard and not very great soil. I could have spent time digging and adding compost, but the space wasn't large and I was lazy. So I bought some dwarf cosmos seeds (I didn't want them falling over into the neighbor's space), very lightly scraped the ground with a hand cultivator (probably one I bought at the dollar store or a garage sale since I don't use them much) and just scattered the seeds on the ground.
Then I sprinkled a bit of dirt on the top, watered lightly and left them alone. They germinated quickly and soon I had a nice little plot of flowers. Super simple and they require no care other than watering when it doesn't rain for awhile. They also bloom all summer long. Perfect!
Another nice thing about these flowers? They produce lots of seeds and they're super easy to gather. When a flower dies, wait a few days and you'll see brittle brown seeds at the end of the stem. Just pluck them, stash them in an envelope (or whatever) and you'll be ready to replant the next year and then some. I ended up with so many seeds that I was able to plant a row along a hedge in the back of my property in a strip of ground that was too full of roots to dig properly. Since no digging was necessary with the cosmos, I soon had a pretty row of bright flowers there, too.
I hope you have lots of wonderful flowers in your life.
Best Wishes,
Myrna
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