These days, garden design seems to be all about simple foliage and clean lines. As much as I admire the contemporary look, sometimes I prefer a bit of wild flower-like personality in my back yard. That's where the easy-to-grow cosmos comes in to play.

Bursting with hot summer colours and growing to around one metre tall, cosmos are no shrinking violets. In fact, I love the way they sway gently in any summer breeze.

These devil-may-care flowers also come with easy growing instructions, thriving in the heat of summer and flourishing almost anywhere, as long as it's hot, dry and sunny.

I've learned to give my cosmos plenty of admiring glances during the warmer months as, like all annuals, they germinate, flower and die within a season or a year. But don't fret - they also pop up again each following year.

For me, cosmos look best when grown en masse, creating a sea of country-cottage colour. So, I recommend getting your hands on as many seedlings as you can afford.

All you have to do is pop down to your local supermarket, Bunnings or The Warehouse and grab some Awapuni Nurseries' cosmos seedlings. Ours are the ones wrapped in newspaper or biodegradable pots (you'll never see our plants packaged in plastic). Or, if you prefer, head to our online store and get your seedlings delivered direct to your door.

Once you've found a good spot and you're ready to plant these American natives, add a good general fertiliser, like nitrophoska blue, to the soil to encourage growth.

Then simply dig a hole (approximately 3cm deep) and place your seedling inside. Plant each subsequent seedling about 10cm apart, giving them space to grow but ensuring they're close enough to support each other in strong winds.

Next, layer newspaper around your plants, and then cover it with peastraw. This homemade mulch will prevent your plants drying out during the day and in between watering sessions.

Voila - you'll have a cosmos floral fiesta in no time, and get to enjoy an array of colour until the first frost hits, usually around June.

And if you really want to bring the outside in, just a handful of these long-stemmed beauties look great in a tall vase (just don't forget to put them in a cool place and change the water every two to three days). You'll be thanking yourself for adding a bit of country colour at your place.