Black Magic is a unique chocolate-scented
cosmo.
The variety has its roots in the pine and
oak woods of Mexico.
It was widely – and it turns out – falsely
-- believed that the dark brown flower with
the intoxicating scent had gone extinct in
its native range due to habitat destruction.
About 20 years ago, a team of Mexican botanists
found the plant growing wild in several areas
of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
But chocolate cosmos’ story as a favorite
of gardeners begins well before that, in the
mid-19th century, when a sample made its way
to England.
By 1885, Thompson and Morgan Seed House began
selling the variety.
Clones of that initial strain had been grown
since the late 1800s at the Royal Botanic
Gardens in London and the chocolate cosmos
at Kew were definitely showing their age.
By the 1970s, the plants had grown wild, scraggly
and infertile.
They’d stopped producing viable seeds and
could only be propagated by cuttings.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, fertile varieties
were being cultivated.
Black Magic was among them, and it featured
larger blooms, a neater growing habit and
viable seeds.
Georg Uebelhart, a Dutch seedsman and owner
of Jelitto seeds, collected the seeds for
Black Magic from a home garden in New Zealand.
This exciting variety boasts robust plants
that average over 2 feet tall with blooms
almost 2 inches across- and the rich, velvety
blooms truly look and smell like chocolate!
