Cosmos are beloved for their vibrant, daisy-like flowers, which bring effortless beauty to any garden. With the right care, they don’t just bloom in summer; they can thrive all the way until winter. The secret lies in three simple yet effective techniques revealed by one gardening expert.

The green enthusiast who goes by the name of Gardening with Ish took to Instagram and boasted: "I'm going to teach you how to take care of a plant that will flower all the way until winter, and that is the cosmos. Now, a cosmos is a flowering plant that you'll find in pretty much every garden centre. It's super easy to grow directly from seed and doesn't really need much maintenance."

He continued: "It likes free-draining soil and good water, but the best thing about a cosmos is the flowers. You'll get so many different varieties in so many different colours and shapes, but they always flower all the way until winter."

We have broken down the three simple steps, Ish recommends to see your cosmos blooming past summer.

1. Regular deadheading

The first thing the garden expert recommends is to regularly deadhead your cosmos flowers. According to RHS, deadheading refers to the process of removing faded or dead flowers from plants.

Ish states that cosmos plants thrive both in the ground and in pots, but regular deadheading is essential from spring through winter. You can remove spent flowers as often as you like to encourage continuous growth and fresh blooms.

He added: "The minute you stop seeing a healthy flower, cut it straight away. This will just keep producing flowers on and on and on. So long as its got plenty of sun and well moist soil."

2. Feeding

Cosmos plants, like many annuals, are largely self-sufficient when it comes to nutrients. Ish shared: "I don't recommend much in terms of feeding your Cosmos plant.

"If you put it in a really good multi-purpose compost, it'll absolutely thrive, but if you want to increase its growth, go for something like a multi-purpose feed. The high nitrogen should really boost the foliage, and if you really want to go wild on the flowers, add a little bit of tomato feed every week in the summer and watch these flowers go absolutely nuts."

Chemical tomato feed is a fertiliser primarily composed of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen plays a crucial role in promoting healthy, vigorous foliage growth in your plants.

However, feeding them too much (especially with nitrogen) can actually reduce their flower production by encouraging excessive leafy growth, reported Gardening Know How.

3. Winter is still important

Cosmos is an annual plant, which means it completes its life cycle in a single growing season and won’t survive through the winter. Once the colder months arrive, the plant will naturally die but there's no need to worry, claims the expert.

Ish advised: "Leave those last plants to die off and brown, and you can take the tops off here, which will be the seeds. You can also buy the seeds if you want.

"All you've got to do is simply pop the seeds in the ground a little bit spaced out in your borders or in pots for around about March or April time, a little bit warmer, and it will turn into this (a fully bloomed plant) in absolutely no time."