Val,
It's interesting that your Bright Lights cosmos grew so tall. Some cosmos can grow even taller. Cosmos do have an interesting variety of plant habits. And they have some interesting flowers, too. There is a double form (Double Click) and one with tubular petals (Sea Shells). If I had more time and space, I would breed cosmos. My first objective would be to cross the yellow species with the pink species. The success of that cross should give Cosmos a color range competitive with zinnias. One of my zinnia goals is to get a zinnia flower form comparable to the Sea Shells cosmos. One of my zinnia variants that is headed a little that way is a strain I call "Woollies".
I also have had open petaled specimens that had a "shell-like" curl to their petals.
I actually have quite a way to go before I can give the Sea Shells cosmos any credible competition with my zinnias. And I have never had a zinnia that was 7 feet tall, either. (I have had a few zinnias that touched 6 feet tall.) However, I have seen cosmos that were taller than 10 feet. So I don't expect zinnias to ever beat cosmos in the height department.
ZM
