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The exotic cleome is native to South America. The annual plant produces elongated inflorescences consisting of four petals and collected on a long stem in a large raceme. The flower is tall. The height of the stem reaches 1.5 m. We will now try to find out what cleome looks like, growing from seeds, when to plant.
Characteristics of the flower
The ornamental plant Cleome spinosa of the caper family grows as a bush. Long stems form at the tops where buds appear. By the end of the season, soft shoots become woody. The volume of the inflorescence is given by the stamen filaments and four petals. Throughout the season, after the flower dies, new buds immediately appear. Small inflorescences are collected in a large brush with a diameter of up to 20 cm. With the appearance of new flowers, the tops of the stems lengthen.
In place of faded inflorescences, seed boxes are formed. You don't even have to delete them. Dried flowers will not interfere with the formation of new buds on the shoots. The color of the corolla can be one-color or two shades. Cotyledon leaves and stems are covered with pubescence. When touched, a specific odor is released. Cleome uses its stench to repel pests.
The pungent odor does not prevent bees from pollinating the flower. In the homeland of cleome, bats do this. A special feature of the flower is its resistance to sudden changes in humidity and temperature. Immunity allowed cleome to take root in the vastness of our homeland.
Variety of varieties
Considering the photo of the cleome flower and the rules of cultivation, it is worth briefly dwelling on the varieties. Domestic gardeners grow only two species: Hassleriana and Spinosa. It is difficult for a non-professional to find differences in varieties. Gardeners have combined the flower into one species - spiny cleome.
Many new varieties have now been developed. All flowers are obtained by crossing two types of cleomes. The result was bushes with beautiful inflorescences of white, pink, and purple. The most popular variety is Cherry Queen. The stems of the bushes grow up to 60 cm in height. The flowers emit a distinct aroma and grow up to 3 cm in diameter.
Features of cultivation
Self-growing cleome from seeds at home occurs in two ways: seedlings and sowing seeds directly into the beds.
Preparing the soil and site for planting
It doesn’t matter whether cleome is grown by seedlings or sown directly on the garden bed, in any case, the soil and place for the flower are prepared.The plant loves a sunny area with shallow soil. It is better to choose a hill so that after rain the water drains and does not accumulate in puddles.
Before planting cleome seedlings in late April, the bed is dug up using a spade. Weed roots are removed from the soil. Organic matter is added as fertilizer. Compost is best. In the absence of organic matter, replace it with complex fertilizer at the rate of 2 tbsp. l./1 m2 beds. The size of the flowerbed for cleome is calculated taking into account the planting scheme. Between each plant, leave at least 50 cm of space for bushes to grow.
Cleome flower seeds can be sown even in autumn. The bed is prepared in a similar way. Sowing is carried out in rows. Excess plants are removed in the spring, observing a favorable bush planting pattern.
The nuances of growing seedlings
In cold regions, everyone is used to growing seedlings. Flowers were no exception. All that remains is to figure out when to sow cleome and how to do it. To obtain seedlings, you first need to collect seeds. When the cleome inflorescences that have faded on the bushes turn into boxes, they are given time to dry. When the pods are crushed, small brown-black grains will fall out. The seeds are collected in a bag and stored until spring.
In early March, it is time to sow cleome seeds for seedlings, but first the grains are prepared. For better germination, soak the seeds in a growth stimulator. You can buy the drug in a store or resort to folk methods using aloe flower juice.
The soil mixture for cleome is prepared at the rate of two parts compost and soil, plus one part sand.Soil 15 cm thick is poured into a box, sprinkled with ash on top, grooves 1 cm deep are cut into which the seeds are immersed. The grains are covered with loose humus on top. The box is covered with a transparent film, left warm until germination. If the seeds have gone through the soaking process, sprouts will appear in 15 days.
When growing seedlings from cleome seeds, it is necessary to provide the flower with maximum care at the initial stage. The procedure involves timely watering. It should be plentiful, but not frequent. Cleome bushes love moist and loose soil without the accumulation of puddles. For disinfection, several manganese crystals are added to irrigation water.
Cleome seedlings provide good light. In the evening, artificial lighting is turned on. After two adult leaves appear, the seedlings are picked and planted in separate containers. After 10 days, and then another two weeks later, nitrogenous fertilizing is applied. When the cleome has adapted and started to grow, the seedlings do not require artificial lighting. Before planting in the garden, the plants are hardened off by taking them outside or into a cool room.
Sowing seeds in the garden
Now let's look at how to grow cleome from seeds without seedlings. The optimal time for sowing is considered to be autumn. Before spring, the seeds will undergo a natural soaking and hardening procedure, and in the spring they will sprout quickly. Grooves 1.5 cm deep are cut along the bed with fertilized soil. Cleome grains are thrown in bulk. Sprinkle the top with earth and lay any organic insulation: grass, leaves, tops of garden crops. With the onset of spring, the shelter is removed, and after the emergence of seedlings, thinning is carried out.
Spring sowing of seeds is carried out after the end of frost.The procedure for preparing the beds, as well as further care, remain unchanged. Only the condition of the seeds differs. For sowing, awakened grains that have passed the soaking stage are used. You can sow dry seeds, but flowering will then begin late.
Flower care
Cleome bushes do not require complex care. It is enough to water and weed in a timely manner weeds, loosen the soil and preferably apply fertilizing.
For gardeners growing cleome from seeds at home, it is worth familiarizing yourself with a number of rules:
- A sunny area sheltered from the wind is suitable for planting cleome;
- a heat-loving flower is planted as seedlings after the end of night frosts;
- maintain a distance of 50 cm between bushes;
- The soil in the garden bed is fertilized before planting seedlings;
- When transplanting into open ground, cleome roots are moistened with Kornevin’s solution;
- The flowers are topped with a solution of humate, and the top is sprayed with an anti-stress drug.
Cleome bushes decorate the flowerbed with lush inflorescences from mid-June until the onset of autumn cold weather. The flower is useful to grow in the garden. The odor emitted attracts pollinating insects.
Feeding bushes
Initially, after planting, the seedlings will have enough nutrients added during soil preparation. If poor development of bushes is observed, nitrogen-containing preparations are applied. Before flowering, it is useful to feed the cleome with complex flower fertilizer. The composition of such preparations includes a minimum of nitrogen, and more phosphorus and potassium.
List of summer procedures
Throughout the growing season, the soil around the bushes is loosened and the grass is weeded. Mulch will help get rid of weeds optimally and retain moisture. Watering the flower is carried out only in hot, dry weather.A lot of water is poured, but it should not remain a puddle, but should be evenly absorbed into the soil around the trunk.
In summer, the condition of the flower is occasionally monitored. If the bushes are stunted, weakened, or bloom poorly, the plantings are treated with a solution of the Zircon preparation. As the height of the plant increases, the stems are tied to a support. The easiest option is to drive in wooden stakes or scraps of metal rod and tie the bush to them with a rope.
Flower care in winter
Cleome is considered an annual plant. With the onset of cold weather in autumn, the bush dies. Dry plants are removed from the garden bed, and new seeds can be sown in their place in winter. The bed must be covered with organic waste until spring so that the grains do not freeze.
Reasons for non-germination of seeds
The small percentage of germination of cleome seeds is explained only by poor quality of the grains or a violation of the flower growing technology. When preparing seed yourself, grains must be taken from developed bushes with large inflorescences. Cleome seeds are given time to ripen inside the pods. Unripe grain will not germinate in the spring.
To increase the percentage of germination, flower seeds are soaked in Epin before sowing. Excellent results are shown by a sharp change in temperature. Boxes with crops are exposed to the sun during the day, and taken out to the balcony or into an unheated room at night.
Dangerous diseases and pests
Cleome has adapted so well to its environment that its aroma does not repel only beneficial pollinating insects. All pests try to fly around this flower. Sometimes vegetable growers plant a couple of cleome bushes around beds with vegetable crops.The emitted smell repels pests, and the bees boldly do their useful work.
A flower can only get sick due to the fault of the gardener or inclement summer. Frequent watering, rain and nearby groundwater will lead to rotting of the root system of the bush.
Using a flower to decorate the landscape
A tall and long-flowering bush will decorate a flower garden laid out along the border. Among other annuals, cleome is planted in the background. Low-growing flowers are placed in front. Bushes with bright inflorescences look like fireworks among a green meadow.
Cleome can be planted together with perennials. It goes best with white cosmos, rose or lobelia flowers. A tall flowering plant, dicentra, is organically suitable.
The flower is great for decorating bouquets. Cut cleome can stand in a vase with water for up to ten days. For bouquets, the flower is planted in the garden among vegetables so that cutting does not disturb the aesthetics of the flowerbed in a visible place.
The video talks about growing cleome:
To decorate your yard with cleome, you don’t even need to have design skills. It is enough just to sow seeds along the fence and throughout the warm season the yard will stand out on the street as a flowering meadow.
