5 reasons why gardeners love spider flowers

Spider flowers, or cleomes, are a favourite amongst gardeners for their beauty and easy care. Here are just a few reasons why you should include them in your garden.

• Cleomes are most often grown as back-of-the-border plants in summer flower beds.
• They also look heavenly mixed in with other annuals planted in large containers.
• Try planting them in groups of five or more plants, so that the profusely flowered stems cut a wide swath in a flower bed.
• Many gardeners plant cleomes behind a short hedge. That way, the stems are hidden and all you see is the feathery flowers.

• As the flowers fade, long, bean-like seedpods form along the lower stem, eventually shedding hundreds of seeds.
• In mild climates cleomes reseed so reliably that they reappear year after year in early summer.
• Tolerant of heat and drought, cleomes often flower non-stop until the plants are felled by hard freezes in the fall.

• The variety 'Cherry Queen' has flowers of bright rose. 'Helen Campbell' is pure white. 'Pink Queen' is a vibrant pink. 'Violet Queen' has violet blossoms.
• If you have sufficient space, a breathtaking scene can be composed by planting cleomes in single-colour drifts.
• If you put the darker flowers at the rear and gradually plant lighter flowers towards the front, your flower bed will look deeper than it actually is.

• Purchase bedding plants in spring. Start seeds indoors four weeks before your last frost, or sow seeds directly in the garden around your last frost date.
• The seeds need light to germinate, so barely cover with soil.
• Keep the soil barely moist and at normal room temperature until the seedlings have several leaves. Or sow outdoors in warm soil.
• Transplant or thin seedlings to 30 centimetres (12 inches) apart.

• Cleomes are self-supporting, so staking is rarely necessary.
• They only need watering during extended droughts.
• As cleomes gain height, the lowest sections of the stems often become thin and leggy, and the bloom display may weaken.
• To help plants make a comeback, prune back half of the stems by half their length to prompt new blooming branches.
• The prickly stems clad with sporadic thorns discourage pests and disease. But they do mean gloves are needed when pruning.

Spider flowers have long been a favourite of gardeners everywhere for their long stems and beautiful colouring. If you want some bright colours with only a little effort, these may just be the flowers for you and your garden.