Well, I’ve always said you should be pragmatic as a gardener. As I store rainwater over winter for use on the plot, given the dry conditions sometimes sacrifices have to be made, so these troughs with direct sowed cosmos were left to frazzle in the sun over the last month.
Obviously the plants in the ground are actually faring a whole lot better, but at some point you have to consolidate a bit and decide where you are going to concentrate your effort in terms of time and indeed your resources in terms of the stored rainwater. These ones didn’t make it….. but as any wise gardener will tell you, there is always next year.
British Hollyhocks and Cosmos Bipinnatus 