A SUPPORTIVE NATURE

Those of us who love cosmos know one of the plant’s many amazing qualities is its willingness to bloom and rebloom all spring and summer. All it asks to keep this show going is regular deadheading.

I gladly oblige until mid-fall or so. Then, as growth in the garden begins to wane, I’ll let some of the flowers age in place. By that time, each cosmos will still have blossoms, a few buds and some flowers that have gone to seed.

In the garden where I work, I leave at least one or two of those cosmos for a few weeks. That’s because that garden serves a special population, and the simultaneous display of seeds, flowers and buds offers that