Yes it is. Some species are white and pink, usually tall the other group -sulphur cosmos- is a little different. The colors are orange yellow, and red orange. Some of these are short edgeing plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: bright lights

One of my favorite flowers! It is definitely cosmos. Did you know you can save the seeds from it very easily for next year?

thanks. this thing is 5 1/2 ft tall. will try and save seeds.
thanks again.
william

They are that tall and didn't get knocked over by Ike? My mexican sunflowers all tipped over; they are bad about that.

I call that cosmos my "Bass Pro Cosmos" because one year in Springfield they were growing in the flowerbeds in the parking lot. I couldn't help myself and did a little seed snatching....(oh come on...admit it.... you've all done it too from time to time) They do grow very tall. I wacked mine back ealier this season and they are still going strong. If any of you fellow Ozarkians want some for SASE just let me know. I have plenty to share!

Pam
Lake of the Ozarks

Helen, My mexican sunflowers fell over early in the season too and I just let them be. As it has turned out I like them better once they fell...they seem to grow straight up from the stock and made a great thick area of beautiful orange flowers that the hummers and butterflies love. I think next year I'll be pushing them down on purpose...but don't tell my hubby as he got chewed out for having them fall in the first place when he watered them one hot day....he says he's never watering my plants and flowers again....(poor guy). In the picture below is the result of two plants falling right of the birdbath. Made a great ground cover.

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I've plenty of these seeds to share too if anyone wants some for SASE.

Pam
Lake of the Ozarks

Your yard looks very neat. Sweet potato vine makes a nice ground cover. Do you spray to prevent the bug holes I had on my purple one. I finally did spray Bt. I also put down a snail bait insecticide combo from Gardens Alive. Something worked. I also like my tithonia tipped over except big limbs of it broke completely off. It now covering some daylilies. I think the daylilies will be fine though.

I was spraying earlier in the season but now I just let 'em go. Too many grasshoppers. I've rooted about a dozen sweet potato vines and I'm going to try to winter over in my garage or basement. I'm afraid they might not get much light? Has anyone out there had in luck in doing so? Any keys to success worth sharing? It's just amazing how much ground just one plant will covers especially towards the end of the season with the hot weather. I just love them. I prefer the green over the purple or the varigated. I think the green grows faster too.

Pam

I also like the green better; the purple was free because I grew it last year. I stored the potato tubers dry in a plastic box in my cool basement. In spring I tried to grow them and some rotted. They didn't take off until it got warm. They stored fine it was the trying to grow them early that failed.

William - I like your picture. I use to grow yellow cosmos and they were beautiful planted in masses.

I also grow green Sweet Potato vines. I usually buy two plants and take cuttings. They are planted around my Floribunda rose in the middle of the garden. I didn't know you could store the tubers for winter, so Helen, when do you did them up?

Pam, you have a pretty graden.

What a beautiful entrance Pam! Your Mexican sunflowers look great. Some of mine tipped over when Ike came through too but they're leaning on other plants and didn't fall all the way down. I spent quite a bit of time trying to prop my biggest one back up and get it to stay straight but it kept falling over against the shrub it's next to. If I'd known it would look so good, I would've pushed it back the other way on the ground.

I rooted sweet potato vine in the fall one year and kept it as a houseplant most of the winter by a sunny window. I let it get too dry and it died but it almost made it until spring. I don't think they always form big tubers but if they do, you can store those in a cool dry place and then root them in the spring like a regular sweet potato. You lay them horizontally in a pot and cover them halfway with damp soil. They send up sprouts and each sprout will send down it own roots. When they're big enough, you break them off and pot them up. Sweet potato vine isn't frost hardy at all so if you're going to take cuttings, be sure and do that before the temps drop down too low but I think it would be ok to wait until after frost to dig up the tubers as long as they don't freeze.

I'm still waiting on one of my cosmos plants to bloom. It's huge and I was beginning to think it was just big weed that looks like cosmos but it finally has buds on it. I'm anxious for it to bloom. I'll be disappointed if frost gets it before the buds open up. My others have had flowers for a long time.

Christie,one of my cosmos did that too.
the man down the street said it is like morning glory. They really do better w/poor soil. Told me if not it will be a really pretty bush, but not many if any flower blooms. A different bunch of mine have really pretty lavender colored blooms. They are farther away from the house and get less water and the soil is just plain. I didn't add anything except compost at the beginning of the year.
So I think I will try to plant mine a little more toward the poor soil next year.

Very pretty Pam.

Hi All...thanks for the vine info and other great info you all pass along. I'm willing to try. I'm anxious to dig up the tuber to see how big they are as the plants are huge from just one plant. I couldn't belive how much and how fast they grow. It just seems like it's going to be a long time to baby these little plants through the winter....just might not be worth the buck and a half saving to buy a couple of new ones....HA....