If you have any cosmos sonata white seeds to trade, please see my trade list and send me a message.

Hi I am looking for the short variety of Shasta Daisy called Little Princess and the sonata Cosmo. This grows to only 16 inches tall. I would like to change out all of my tall shastas and cosmos for short ones. I have Shasta daisy and plants to give and cosmo seeds, marigold seeds and wild aster seeds. I will have more seeds as the summer ends. Robyn

Chocolate cosmos, alas, is a sterile species, and does not produce seed. It is extinct in the wild, and all of the available plants are clones of one surviving cultivated plant. There is a possible second individual out there, so in theory it could produce seeds, but I don't think anyone has tried to genetically find the other one.

"I used to think those Giants were the victims of over-fertilization, but now I'm wondering... are these Giants really just the volunteer self-seedlings from last year's hybrid crop? That is, will Cosmos Sonata self-seed regular, undwarf Tall Cosmos?" Yes, they probably are from last year's crop. Hybrids don't breed true. This is because they are a cross of two unrelated parents. So if the hybrid(F1) sets seed(F2) and they fall and germinate, you will end up with seedlings of one or both of the parent plants, or even the grandparents of the plant. In order to ensure the same hybrid plant year after year, you have to continue to plant the hybrid seed. This is the reason many choose to grow heirloom varieties, although in truth heirloom seeds were once hybrids as well. It's just their genetic selection occurred over many generations, resulting in the general uniformity and reliability that so many gardeners love. I say "general" because they can sometimes produce a mutation that looks nothing like them. : ) Diana