Cosmos Atrosanguineus

Fabulous, rich velvety-maroon-to-almost-black, chocolate-scented flowers open over a very long period from early summer right into the frosts of autumn. Amazed growers cannot resist smelling this wonderful perfume which comes from a chemical constituent very similar to vanilla! Although available for many years as sterile plants, viable seeds had never been produced, but after a spontaneous mutation occurred, one plant was discovered with just a few fertile seeds, and plants grown from these seeds will also produce a very small number of fertile seeds. Incredibly, these plants vary in stature and colour of flower, some being very dark, almost black, as illustrated! Mature plants vary from tight compact clumps with short-stemmed blooms, up to large branching beauties with very long stemmed flowers which are ideal for cutting. Flowers range from small to opulently-large, and a very few are semi-doubles. The fragrant petals vary from notched or feathered to oval and entire, as shown in the picture. Just a few named clones currently exist, one of which is known in the trade as 'Chocamocha' a beautiful, top-selling dwarf form of this plant which has redder petals than many of the forms these seeds will produce. Originally from Mexico, this rare and lovely plant is now described as extinct in the wild, but you now have the opportunity to grow your own new variety. We believe we were the first company to grow and release these seeds to the World. We search for and collect laboriously by hand, and one at a time, just a very small limited number of good fertile seeds of this legendary and incredibly valuable plant, which is a reluctant seed producer, hence the high price. We are very sorry but there is a limit of only one packet per customer.