Dramatic Cleome Cherry Queen produces tall spires of richly coloured flowers with their distinctive long stamens that shoot outwards, a floral ‘ta-da’. Those extraordinary flowers are particularly suited to long-tongued bees and moths. They’re scented too, becoming more noticeable as dusk falls. This is height with pizazz.
🌸 Flowering July to September
📏 Height to 120cm
🌿 Annual
💧 Drought tolerant once established with occasional deep waterings during long dry periods for the best blooms
Sow: between March and May in pots or modules of seed compost, lightly cover with perlite or vermiculite & put them somewhere they will experience warmer days and cooler nights. An unheated greenhouse or cold frame can work well. They can be tricky; germination can be spread over several weeks, so don’t give up. Pot up when they are large enough to handle.
Grow: harden off before planting after all frost risk has passed. Space plants about 40cm apart in a sunny, well-drained position. Work with their height and grow them so that they ‘erupt’ up through white cosmos or the green of Bells of Ireland.
Enjoy: there's something rather exotic about Cleome, especially as the scent becomes more noticeable towards evening. And if you're brave enough to tackle the spines, those extraordinary flowers can come indoors too!
🏡 In your garden
• Urban and courtyard gardens
• Cottage and informal gardens
• Cutting gardens
• Flower borders and beds
• Pollinator-friendly plantings
✂️ Cut flower
• Fresh vase life of 7 to 10 days
• Long, sturdy stems
• Cut when the lower flowers start to unfurl. The remaining buds will open, working their way up the stem.
• Changing the water every 2 days and recutting the stem ends slightly helps prevent bacterial growth
• Cleome can sometimes have a distinctive musky smell when cut. If yours do, you may decide they're better left in the garden to enjoy
🐝 Wildlife friendly
• Particularly suited to long-tongued bees
• Attractive to hummingbird hawk-moths and other hawk-moths
💡 Did you know?
• Cleome is also known as the Spider Flower, a name inspired by those wonderfully long, protruding stamens.
• They are said to be rabbit and deer resistant (perhaps the caution below explains why), but hungry deer and rabbits don't always read plant lists!
⚠️ CAUTION
They can be a bit spiny on the stems and leaf stalks, so remember to wear gloves when deadheading and cutting
Save
