Cosmos 'Choca Mocha' is a perennial which will suit most sunny gardens of today. It is compact, flowers for many months of the year, is neat and tidy, non-invasive and unusual. Commonly called the Chocolate Cosmos it has the subtle benefit in its flower having the scent of that well loved confection, Chocolate.
Plant 'Choca Mocha' into your massed planting of summer colour. Planted as a stand alone close to paths where the scent of chocolate is apparent when you walk through the garden is another good idea. Flowers are borne on very young plants with flowering continuing through the spring into summer and on into autumn. In warmer areas flowering may hold for most of winter but in cooler climes the plant will go into dormancy. Like Dahlias they retreat to a tuber for their winter rest, but can be lifted and stored for replanting after the last cool snaps of winter are past. If you leave the tuber in the ground they should re-grow as long as the garden bed is well draining. In larger tubs Choca Mocha can be useful in the outdoor rooms of modern living as a talking point when you entertain.
'Choca Mocha' has needs similar to most perennials in your gardens,full sun, regular moisture but good drainage and good garden soil. Amend the garden bed with well prepared Compost worked into the soil. We have not seen any pest or disease on the plants in our garden. At the end of flowering as winter takes hold you can prune the plant hard once it has died back to the tuber. When new growth appears a dressing of fertilizer makes for a good start into growth and flower.
Cosmos atrosanquineus is native to Mexico and some parts of the southwestern United States. It grows in the open grassland as a small plant to 60cm in height with the longer flower spikes exploding from the plant and waving in the wind.
Cosmos 'Choca Mocha' comes from extensive breeding work and the resultant selection is very compact and multi-branching growing only to 30cm in height at most. Flowers are borne in profusion all over the plant with new flower spikes coming through regularly. In the warmer months it is always in bloom.