The chocolate flower appears deep red and has a graceful shape, and is at least as popular as the candy due to its appearance. Gardeners can enjoy the sight of them every year. But is that even possible? Is the chocolate flower perennial? We'll tell you.
Is the chocolate flower perennial and hardy?
The chocolate flower is perennial, but does not tolerate frost. For successful overwintering, you should move the plant to a warm location before the first night frosts or dig it up outdoors in good time and store it in a cool place in the pot.
Chocolate scent for several years
The chocolate flower is a perennial. If cared for carefully, the milk chocolate-scented blossom will delight the gardener every year. However, it is not evergreen and does not bloom during the winter.
Conditions
Attention, do not confuse the perennial plant with a winter-hardy plant. The chocolate flower comes from sunny California, where mild temperatures prevail all year round. The local winters are too cold for the black cosmos. Frost in particular is hard on the flower. Therefore, care in winter requires a little more effort, especially if you cultivate the chocolate flower outdoors. You have to move your plant to a warm location before the first night frosts occur. If the flower grows in a pot, it's relatively easy.
Tip
Depending on how big and heavy your plant pot (€54.00 on Amazon) is, we recommend storing it on a rolling board. This saves you a lot of effort when changing location.
However, if your plant thrives in the garden bed, you need to dig it up in good time. Do this very carefully so as not to damage the sensitive roots. You should have the work done by October at the latest. At this point the flower has already faded. Only the tuber remains. Overwintering an outdoor chocolate flower follows these rules:
- Prepare pot with fresh substrate
- Dig up tuber
- plant in the potting soil
- store in a cool but not too cold place
- place the plant pot warm and sunny (window sill) from February
- in May the first shoots emerge from the ground
- Wait for the last ground frosts during the Ice Saints (mid-May)
- only then plant in the usual location
Always make sure that your chocolate flower does not get frost, it will give you joy for a long time.
