Time Frame

• An annual is a plant that completes its life cycle in a single season. Cosmos flowers germinate, grow leaves, blossom, produce seeds and die off in one summer. The average life span of cosmos flowers is from spring or planting time until the first killing frost in the fall.
  
  

Significance

• Annual flowers are versatile and work well in an ever-changing flower garden. To switch varieties of cosmos flowers, do not let the cosmos flowers go to seed in the fall. Plant a new variety of cosmos the next spring.
  
  

Types

• Cosmos sulphureus is available in varieties that produce yellow or orange flowers. Cosmos bipinnatus yields pink, lavender, maroon and white flowers. Both of these annuals are popular with gardeners throughout North America.