Sometimes it’s the simplest flowers that have the biggest impact. Ever seen a social media shot of a person pretending not to notice the camera as they wander through a meadow during Magic Hour? Odds are, that’s a field of cosmos.

Cosmos is the shape that small children draw when asked to draw a flower. Simple and bucolic, it’s a shapely, round flower with a papery texture, not unlike a poppy. Cosmos propagates easily and grows quickly. Plant a few seeds and before you know it you’ll have a hipster meadow of your very own. There’s a lot of variation in the colouring of cosmos. The most common variety is a mixture of different pinks, with some white edged with pink.

As with many other flowers, commercial growers have experimented with hybridisation in recent years, giving rise to a wide range of new varieties. These include the large, doubled petalled Cupcake Blush, as well as the lemon coloured Cosmos Xanthos. But perhaps the most unusual variety of all is Chocolate Cosmos. A deep velvet-textured burgundy, chocolate cosmos is a tiny little flower that lives up to its name by smelling of chocolate. How could you not love it?

Cosmos tends to appear sporadically at the flower market, although it can usually be counted on to appear in mid autumn. Due to its dainty nature, cosmos is best used as an accompaniment to the focal flowers in your wedding arrangements. A sprig of chocolate cosmos is a perfect addition to a buttonhole or a low table arrangement. The delicate stems allow it to be woven through and arrangement to soften it without detracting from the main focal flowers.

If a relaxed and gentle approach is the brief, cosmos provides a touch of whimsy and movement, to enhance the effect of your wedding flowers.

Celia Crawford China Clay Floristry Clovelly, Sydney, (02) 9665 3238 www.chinaclay.com.au

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