Spider Flower
Cleome hasslerana. CAPPARACEAE.
Planting and Growing Spider Flower
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow spider flower in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of spider flower
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for spider flower
- Season of bloom and planting time for spider flower
- When, how deep, and where to plant spider flower
- How to plant spider flower
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of spider flower
- Landscape and container uses of spider flower
- Comments about spider flower and its features
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Growing Spider Flower
Many cultivars of erect, branching or shrublike annual herbs, to 5 ft. (1.5 m) tall, armed with sharp spines at leaf nodes. Smooth, light green, palmlike, divided, pointed, fragrant leaves, each with 5–7 leaflets, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) long.
Common cultivars include Cleome hasslerana ‘Cherry Queen’, ‘Helen Campbell’, ‘Pink Queen’, and ‘Queen Mixed Colors’.
Spiny spider flower, Cleome spinosa, is a closely related species with similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, purple fading to white, 4-petaled flowers with threadlike stamens, to 2-1/2-in. (63-mm) long, in round, ball-like clusters, to 6 in. (15 cm) wide, in summer–late autumn.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 2–11.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.0–7.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun to partial shade, 18–24 in. (45–60 cm) apart; early spring in areas with long, warm summers. Start seed indoors 8–10 weeks before final frost for early blooms; transplant when soil warms.
Proper Care
Moderate. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize every 2 months. Stake tall cultivars. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, borders in cottage, natural, wildlife gardens. Good for cutting, drying. Attracts hummingbirds. Pest and disease resistant.