Cleome is a beautiful flower from the family of Cleomaceae(order Brassicales).Although it was believed this plant belongs to the caper family, with a closer look into DNA structure scientists discovered that this plant belongs to the Brassicales order and was given its own small family tree.This annual flower is becoming more and more popular plant in cottage gardens. Flowers on the Cleome plants give a unique show which lasts from the beginning of July till the start of the first frost date. Beautiful flowers have 4 petals and long stamens which give the plant a spidery look.

 Flowers range from white to dark pink and are often bicolor. Some varieties also have flowers that change color when they get older so one plant can have many shades of pink. Flowers don’t last long but the flower stem keeps growing new flowers and keeps getting taller with flowers on top of the stem. The bottom parts of the stem start producing seeds as soon as the petals are gone so this plant has seeds and flowers at the same time. Stem also has small thorns which keep snails away so there is no danger of being eaten.

 Thick foliage which grows around 40cm in height keeps the weeds away. Flower stems grow from 0.8m to 1.5m(30 to 60in), the height depends on the thickens of the plants. The tighter the plants are sown the shorter the stems will be.

This plant is not too difficult to grow. It is grown from seeds that should be planted in March in pots or directly to the garden in April. Plants that are sown in pots will flower sooner than the ones that are sown directly because the ones in the soil will wait for the ideal conditions.The plant likes full sun or part shade and well-drained soil. The soil type doesn’t matter although they prefer sand.This plant likes to self-seed and if left over the winter it will most likely spread all over the garden. If you want to control its growth flowers should be cut down in the fall and sown back in the spring.Each plant produces lots of seeds that are located all over the stem in big seed pods. Pods are very delicate and as soon as they start drying they burst open so seed collecting should be done while pods are still green and then dried in a warm room. 

 Cleome is ideal if you want to attract hummingbirds and bees, its musky odor, which is especially strong after the rain, will bring them to your garden.