Cultivating Cosmos: From Amateur to Expert

This week we’re finding out how to be a hoverfly hero. These masters of mimicry are vitally important pollinators, decomposers, and aphid predators, but their populations are in steep decline in the UK. RHS entomologist Josie Stuart will be telling us more about these garden friends, and how we as gardeners can help. Keeping our gardens blooming for as long as possible is a great help for all our pollinators and Cosmos shows off its delicate flowers all the way from late summer through to the first frosts of autumn. We’ll speak to National Collection holder Jonathon Sheppard for his recommendations of the best cultivars to try this year. And from one remarkable collection to another – Sarah Cook has dedicated years to researching and reviving the lost irises of Cedric Morris. These striking blooms, once thought to survive only in his famous paintings, have been brought back to life thanks to her tireless work in the RHS archives and in Cedric’s garden at Benton End.

Host: Jenny Laville

Contributors: Josie Stuart, Jonathan Sheppard, Sarah Cook

Links:

Be a hoverfly hero

Help hoverflies: 5 top plants and 5 fun facts

What are hoverflies?

Read Jonathan’s cosmos and hollyhock blog

British cosmos (seed sales)

Plant Heritage, home of the National Plant Collections

Benton End

The Nurture Landscapes Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 

RHS People Awards