Video: Cosmos sulphureus 'Bright Lights' from Johnny's Selected Seeds

We're here in the flower trials, standing in front of Cosmos sulphureus 'Bright Lights'.

I wanted to talk about this plant as a really nice garden plant, for putting on a great show — like it's doing here — and for attracting and supporting beneficial insects in your garden. So wonderful for bees and butterflies, and just a great show of color.

And while it is sometimes used for cut flowers, it's not as long-lived in the vase as Cosmos bipinnatus, so the petals will drop quite a bit faster. So you will have something like a 5-day vase life on this.

They do go to seed pretty quickly, and reseed readily, so in the garden be prepared for some volunteer plants, which can be really nice if you want them.

But as you can see, a beautiful show of color.

And these plants aren't as heavy and dense as Cosmos bipinnatus, so they tend to keep themselves well supported in the garden.

And they're fast to flower — they start flowering early — and if the conditions are good put on a nice show for a long time.