Cleome hassleriana, the
common garden cleome, is native to southern South America. It’s been grown in gardens for centuries and
while it’s an annual plant, once you have it in your garden it generally
re-seeds itself and returns year after year.
In my garden it comes up in pots of bulbs I store over winter because
seed has fallen into them the previous summer.
I have even had the plants come up in houseplants that summered
outside. By late spring some of the
plants were blooming inside.
Cleome
is often called spider flower or spider plant.
This tall and graceful flower looks good in masses at the back of flower
beds. It lends an airy elegance to large
pots also. There are now dwarf varieties
for pots and front of the border uses.
The foliage is attractive and a conversation starter because it’s often
mistaken for marijuana.
Cleome
leaves consist of 5-7 leaflets arranged palmately (like the fingers on your
hand). The leaves are sticky and there
is a thorn at the base of each leaf stalk.
The foliage however interesting looking, has a pungent smell reminiscent
of cat urine. It’s only notable if you
brush or crush the foliage and you won’t smell it if you are just admiring the
tall, beautiful flowers. Stalks are sturdy and may reach 5 feet high.
Cleome
flowers are arranged in circular clusters at the top of the plants and
sometimes on side branches. The flowers have 4 oval petals attached to a center
disk by a stem, giving them a fluttery, airy look. Each flower has a long slender stamens
sticking out like cat whiskers which accounts for the spider name for some
reason. Personally I never saw the resemblance to a spider. Cleome comes in
white, lavender, purple and pink shades.
Plants will grow taller and continue to bloom from mid- summer to
frost.
Cleome
flowers are attractive to bees and hummingbirds. Some say the flowers have a sweet scent;
others describe it as musky, although I think if it’s there it’s very subtle.
The flowers turn into long, narrow pods filled with tiny black seeds. When the
pod is ripe the seeds are scattered widely.
If you don’t want cleome all over the garden you’ll want to keep the
flowers cut off as they fade. Birds are
said to eat the seeds, although I don’t think they would be a preferred food.
There
are numerous varieties of cleome on the marketplace. You can now get seed of one color, which
years ago wasn’t possible. The ‘Queen’
series has several separate color forms.
‘Senorita Rosalita’ is a variety said to have scentless foliage and no
thorns. It goes not produce seeds. The
‘Sparkler’ series are cleomes that are compact and only 2-3 feet tall.
Growing cleome
Cleome
prefers full sun but will survive and even bloom a little in partial
shade. It’s not fussy about soil and
will grow in just about any soil as long as it’s well drained. Light
fertilization will produce more blooms but isn’t necessary. Cleome does appreciate regular watering, but
can survive short dry periods.
Sow
cleome seeds where they are to grow after the soil has warmed – about 2 weeks
before your last predicted frost. Or start plants inside 4-6 weeks before the
last frost. You can fall sow the seeds
also, that’s what nature does. Simply
sprinkle the seeds where you want them to grow and let winter rain and snow
plant them for you. Most garden centers also carry started plants. Cleome shoots up quickly and in good soil can
get 5 feet high. The plants begin
blooming about 6 weeks after they sprout and will bloom continuously until
frost.
Cleome
plants are prolific seeders and from one planting of cleome you may have plants
for many years, without having to plant them again! Plants that come up from seed shed the
previous year may not have the same flower color as the parent plants but
diversity is good. If you don’t want
them to re-seed themselves you can cut the narrow seed pods off as they
form. Don’t cut the bloom stalk as the
plant keeps getting taller and putting out more flowers at the top.
Deer
and rabbits generally leave cleome alone.
The plant rarely has problems with insects. Aphids occasionally attack
plants, usually stressed ones. Plants
will occasionally get powdery mildew, but it’s not as noticeable or disfiguring
as in other types of plants. Rust fungus
is sometimes observed on cleome. In some warmer climates the plant could become
invasive and even some northern gardeners complain about the prolific reseeding
the plant does.
Other uses of cleome
Cleome hassleriana is
considered to be non-toxic to people and animals. It is not considered to be an edible plant or
despite its resemblance to one, a smoking plant. It has no known herbal uses, when you see a
reference to cleome in certain herbals it refers to other species of the plant,
some native to North America and some to Africa.
Despite
having no edible or herbal uses cleome is an excellent garden subject with uses
in formal and informal gardens. Some
plants are meant to be admired for their beauty and usefulness to other species
like bees and butterflies, rather than as food and medicine for humans.
Consider some cleome for your garden and enjoy its graceful beauty.
No comments:
Post a Comment