Giants in my small flower beds

Hello, Here's some silly questions from my novice self. I have always had flower beds, but grew plants that I knew about. This year I got several that I have never grown, but liked. I put in Nasturtiums (DWARF) mixture, and Cosmos. They are very pretty, but took over the beds. Can you cut them back in the spring, like mums, to keep the heighth down? I don't know if I should put them in next year. I also have a Clematis that didn't bloom. Not much foliage, either. Should I leave it alone for winter, or what? I could feed a small army with my Nasturtiums!! And it's only one plant. Thank you for any help you may give.

I don't have clematis, but have heard it takes a couple of years to get established and bloom... except for Sewwt Autumn Clematis.

I cut back many of my annuals when they thrteaten to take over a space, so see no reason you couldn't cut some of them back during the growing season. Cosmos will re-seed itself, and you can save the seeds of the nasturtiums for next year.

Vivilee, I frequently cut my nasturtiums back and use all parts, greens, flowers and buds in salads. You can also pickle the immature seeds and use them in place of capers. It's a very useful plant, and will put up with plenty of interference from you!

I have several varieties of clematis, and it does take a few years for them to really grow large. The large-flowered hybrids usually don't grow more than 4-5 feet high even then. And they prefer to have a ground-cover to keep their bases shaded. Nasturtiums would be perfect to keep them cozy.

Those and the cosmos are annuals; my nasturtiums seldom re-seed but the cosmos does. The kind that I have is NOT dwarf; and the more that I cut it the bigger it gets! I kind of knocked it over, and it rooted all along its stem, so it is now about 6' wide and 4' high. Way too big, but I do love it :) There are dwarf varieties, tho. They make great cut flowers for bouquets.

I had that cosmo problem this year too. Fortunately, we've had soooooo much rain I pulled them up by their roots and replanted to the back of the bed and they did just fine. Whew...they look much nicer back there. There are huge, aren't they?

Thank you, everyone, I have hope for my Clematis. I have ground cover under it. (Dead Nettle) and some Coreopsis. Next year I will find a spot for my Nasturtiums and Cosmos. One thing I did do this year is put a Cosmo in a ten inch pot to see how it would do. It is keeping a nice size, but I am a slave to it, keeping it watered enough. One thing I love about Nasturtiums is the leaves. They sure are pretty. Thank you again for the advice.