The present study investigates the adsorption capability of raw and biochar forms of Chrysanthemum indicum flowers biomass to remove cobalt ions from aqueous solution in a fixed-bed column. Column adsorption experiments were conducted by varying the bed height (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 cm), flow rate (1.0, 2.5, 5.0 mL min−1) and initial cobalt ion concentration (25, 50, 75 mg L−1) to obtain the experimental breakthrough curves. The adsorption capacity of the raw and biochar forms of C. indicum flowers were found to be 14.84 and 28.34 mg g−1, respectively, for an initial ion concentration of 50 mg L−1 at 1.0 cm bed height and 1.0 mL min−1 flow rate for Co (II) ion adsorption. Adam–Bohart, Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models were applied to the experimental column data to analyze the column performance. The Thomas model was found to best represent the column data with the predicted and experimental uptake capacity values correlating well and with higher R2 values for all the varying process parameters. Desorption studies revealed the suitability of the adsorbents for repeated use up to four adsorption–desorption cycles without significant loss in its efficiency. It can thus be inferred from the fixed-bed column studies that C. indicum flowers can suitably be used as an effective adsorbent for Co (II) ion removal from aqueous solution on a higher scale. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.