Growing Cockscomb Flower In The Garden
Learning how to grow cockscomb is an interesting garden chore and can brighten the flower bed with shades of golden yellow, traditional red, peach, and purple. Both specimens offer long-lasting flowers for brilliant colors in the garden. They are heat loving and are somewhat drought tolerant.
Cockscomb
Thomas Jefferson noted the planting of seeds of “Cockscomb, a flower like the Prince’s feather” in 1767. This is likely the crested from of Celosia with its strange scarlet combs that are furrowed and lobed. In 1811, Jefferson wrote McMahon: “I have an extensive flower border, in which I am fond of placing handsome plants or fragrant. Those of mere curiosity I do not aim at.” Still, the shockingly curious flowers of the Cockscomb must have delighted visitors to Monticello in Jefferson’s time, just as they continue to do today.
Visit Monticello’s Online Shop to check for seeds or plants of Cockscomb.
Typical Blooming Dates: June-November
Growth Type: Annual
Blossom Colors: Red
Location: West Lawn
Planting Conditions: Full Sun
Further Sources
- Adams, Denise Wiles. Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc., 2004
- Betts, Edwin M.,Hazlehurst Bolton Perkins, and Peter J. Hatch. Thomas Jefferson’s Flower Garden at Monticello, 3rd ed. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986
- Leighton, Ann. American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1986
- MacMahon, Bernard. The American Gardener’s Calendar, 1806. Charlottesville: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1997
- Seeds available for purchase at Monticello Museum Shop
- Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants
Growing Cockscomb Flower In The Garden
The cockscomb flower is an annual addition to the flower bed, commonly named for the red variety similarly colored to the cock’s comb on a rooster’s head. Cockscomb, Celosia cristata, traditionally grown in the red variety, also blooms in yellow, pink, orange, and white.
Using the Cockscomb Flower in the Garden
The cockscomb plant is versatile in height, sometimes remaining as short as a few inches (8 cm.) while others grow to a few feet (1 m.). The irregular growth habits of the cockscomb plant can lead to surprises in the garden. Though an annual flower, growing cockscomb reseeds freely and often supplies a wealth of plants for next year.
Learn how to grow cockscomb and others of the cockscomb Celosia family for attractive specimens in the summer flower bed. Celosia can add color to a rock garden. Cockscomb Celosia may be dried and used in indoor arrangements.
The cockscomb flower may also be a fat and spiky little plant, growing in colors other than the vibrant red. This cockscomb is called plume celosia (Celosia plumosa).
The cockscomb plant is useful in garden borders or planted between taller plants in the garden to add a spike of color near ground level.
How to Grow Cockscomb
Learning how to grow cockscomb is an interesting garden chore and can brighten the flower bed with shades of golden yellow, traditional red, peach, and purple. Both specimens offer long-lasting flowers for brilliant colors in the garden. They are heat loving and are somewhat drought tolerant.
Full sun locations allow cockscomb Celosia to grow taller. Cockscomb may grow in only partial sun too, so it can happily exist when partially shaded by taller plants.
Pinching back the first bloom on these flowers can cause branching and a more abundant display of flowers on each cockscomb plant.
Plant seedlings into rich, well draining soil that has warmed in late spring. Seedlings may be grown indoors or purchased. Those living in warm areas may sow the tiny seeds directly into the flower bed. In areas farther north, make sure the soil has warmed before planting, as letting the cockscomb plant get a chill can cause summer flowering to cease or not happen. Leaving seedlings too long in crowded cell packs may have the same result.