Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Cleome...

Janie BJanie B Posts: 963
in Plants
... following on from my previous post (thanks for the id, @Hostafan1) I've just been looking up cleome plants... Have discovered they are annuals, and that they are a bit tricky to grow from seed... they looked amazing planted en masse, any tips on how to grow them...? 
Lincolnshire

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    No trouble to grow from seeds, just don’t sow too early, start of April is fine indoors.  
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    They don't like root disturbance, so sowing in modules would be a good idea.
    They should not go outside until the night time temperatures are above 10c.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    I was was curious about cleomes too. Are they happy enough in pots? And also, are they good for bees? And also, how long do they flower for? Thank you 😊 
    Surrey
  • Janie BJanie B Posts: 963
    Thanks for that, @Lyn and @punkdoc... I think I'll give them a go next year... 

    Lincolnshire
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    They are surprisingly vulnerable to slugs, especially as seedlings. They can be grown in pots, but very big ones because they are big plants and prefer the ground. They flower for ages when they are happy but I have not grown them this year because they couldn't take the endless droughts we are experiencing here.
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    'Senorita Rosalita' is a spineless variety you may wish to check out.
  • KmehKmeh Posts: 173
    I grew them for the first time this year. I started too early and they spent ages in pots waiting to be planted out!  Next year- early may for me.

    They were easy enough to grow with a pretty high germination rate - above 60% from memory. Mine are quite leggy from the long time in pots and spiky too. They flower regularly and are a pleasant enough. Agree planting in clumps would add to their appearance.
  • JacquimcmahonJacquimcmahon Posts: 1,039
    I did them in pots last year and they were ok, but they went over quickly due to the hot summer, so didn’t bother this year.
    Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
  • Matt_Matt_ Posts: 49
    Grew cleome violet queen from seed this year for the first time.

    Started mine in March and planted out in April. Definitely too early, even though we had warm weather the couple of cold spells damaged the leaves and they basically sulked for a couple of months. I was probably lucky we had such warm weather. Anyway they came alive in June and now their first flowers are out and going well. Will probably do them again next year, planting out later.


Sign In or Register to comment.