Cosmos atrosanguineus Eclipse - Chocolate Cosmos

This Cosmos atrosanguineus 'Eclipse' is a variety of chocolate cosmos that is even more decorative due to its large flowers. Woven with silk and velvet of a very dark red with black reflections, its corollas emit delightful effluvia of vanilla chocolate in warm weather. Compact and bushy, with deeply lobed medium green foliage, it is a cosmos from elsewhere. Blooming for several months, it excels in flower pots or at the front of borders. Often considered an annual, it is actually a tender perennial, but heat tolerant. It can be grown like a Dahlia. It will thrive in light, humus-rich, moist to occasionally dry soils, in full sun or partial shade.

The Cosmos atrosanguineus is a plant native to Mexico belonging to the Asteraceae family. It resembles a Dahlia more than a cosmos. The 'Eclipse' variety is a recent horticultural selection that comes from New Zealand. It develops from a fleshy tuber sensitive to frost and quickly forms, from spring onwards, a clump measuring 45 cm (18in) in all directions. The low foliage is composed of deeply lobed leaves with a slightly glaucous green colour. The robust flower stems appear from July to October, provided that faded flowers are regularly removed. Each stem bears a 5 cm (2in) wide head of flowers. Each head is formed by wide ligulate florets arranged around a core of tubular florets with golden stamens. These heads are highly fragrant, especially in warm weather. This variety produces few, if any, viable seeds, and is therefore mainly propagated by division of tubers.

Cosmos atrosanguineus 'Eclipse' is sublime when paired with gray and silver foliage. In borders or flower pots, it will wonderfully accompany artemisias, bear's ears, or silver ragwort. The warm tone of its flowers enhances the pastel colors of annual poppies or the azure of the globe thistle. It stands out against the acid green foliage of bipinnate cosmos or Alchemilla mollis.