In my neck of the woods they self seed.

As they do in mine. In fact, I stopped growing it as it self seeded far too readily for my tastes.

@rouge In a good way? I really like this variety and am thinking of a couple of other places where it might add some color where zero maintenance is needed. But I don't want to create a monster.

I harvested some seeds just in case.

@ggal I wish I had such problems... waaaahhh zone envy

cut flowers! what a great idea. I think I will cut some right now. Why didn't I think of that?!?!?

Not sure how much to leave for self-sow. I've no experience doing this. There could be a million seeds easily. Do I just leave it to Mother Nature to figure it out?

I grew them one year, but they smelled like a skunk. Is that common?

not uncommon........" many older varieties have strong spines on the stem and may put off a somewhat skunky odor. "

Good luck with cleome in your zone. As pretty as cleome flowers are, in my zone the aggressive self-seeding and skunky odor of the pink variety I grew were issues. I tried a white variety the following year that a local nursery promised was sterile but… it wasn’t.

As others have said, they will self-sow, but you could certainly collect really ripe seeds this fall and scatter them where you want them. Good luck & enjoy!

I am also in MA and have grown them in the past...

Hello @WendyB 5A/MA, in my location self seeding is not a problem. But for sure it would be zone dependent.

may put off a somewhat skunky odor

The odour is for sure reminiscent of cannabis as are its palmate leaves.

There are people who definitely confuse cleome with cannabis. Particularly since it isn't commonly grown.

It self-seeded here, but nothing overwhelming.

I just took a good close-up sniff and nothing going on. Are there certain conditions that trigger skunk smell? I didn't notice anything all season and I am nearby a lot.

Also looked at the leaves. This variety has pretty small leaves. Do not look like cannabis.

Read this: https://northerngardener.org/plant-profile-cleome. It explains why some newer cleome varieties are scentless, thornless and even sterile.

that's interesting. The seeds I bought seemed to be a different "series" than standard cleome, but not those names. It claimed improved germination among other things. Now that I have learned how cleomes self-sow, that seems to be an odd/unnecessary claim.

https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/annuals/cleome/sparkler-blush-cleome-seeds.html

These also say thornless. Maybe sterile seeds are in play here somehow. I bought 2 packs for my friend as a gift and one pack for me. I only got 1 seed to germinate. She got none. The supplier sent me a replacement pack of seeds and none of those germinated either. I got a refund for the other 2 packs.

I think I will do a germination test of the seeds I collected today. We're going to have a warm week here so I should be able to keep them outside. I'll watch for cool nights. I'll try the damp papertowel baggie refrigerator method too. I've read about it. never done it.

Wendy, just be aware. As I said I love cleome in bouquets because it is somewhat of a lesser-known and unusual bloom. It can be a bit difficult to work with. It can be spiny, and it always got sticky when handling the stems. I don't know if it gives off some kind of sap like euphorbia or other plants, and I believe some people may have some skin reactions to such saps. I never did - I just had sticky hands. :) So I don't think it's as bad as some saps but just be aware of it.

I never found the scent to be off-putting. It might not have been as pleasant as some flowers, but it's not like I or anyone else recoiled from the smell lol. And if you put it in a mixed bouquet with other fragrant flowers it gets overpowered by them so it shouldn't be a problem.

:)

Dee

I found this on NC website. I wonder if is improved germanation for THIS variety of cleome.

https://cutflowers.ces.ncsu.edu/cleome-sparkler-blush/

that's interesting that seed germination is said to be good and then not good in the same article. I'm going with "not good". Perhaps the ones I got as "2.0" with improved seed germination are being compared to 1.0 of Sparkler Blush rather than standard cleomes.

Seems many go thru a "cleome phase". I guess this is mine :)

Now I'm really interested in doing a germination test. Let the challenge begin!

Updating: I got no germination after a 14 day trial. (I dropped the pot so couldn't try longer). So much for my cleome phase!

Wendy I've wintersown these with decent results. I can't remember my germination rate offhand - I haven't grown them for some years, but if you wintersow I would say give them a shot that way.

:)

Dee

Dee, I think its this particular variety that is germination-challenged! I did sprinkle some in the area and I collected some to try in spring. Will see...

Wendy, what is the variety? Sorry if I missed it above but I don't see that you mentioned it.

:)

Dee

yes, several articles linked to. Sparkler Blush 2.0 (because 1.0 didn't work out so well)

LOL oh geez, you mean all those links that say HERE!!! SPARKLER BLUSH!!! OVER HERE!!! Ugh, sorry lol.

Anyhoo... I checked my notes and I did wintersow Sparkler Blush - don't know if it was 1.0 or 2.0 but guessing it was not 2.0 as I sowed it so many years ago. But for what it's worth, I did wintersow it and had decent germination - about 75-80%. I also WSed Queen Mix which may have done slightly better. Unfortunately I don't have my earlier notes due to a computer change and so I don't have any more details.

Good luck with these next year! Keep us posted!

:)

Dee

@WendyB 5A/MA, your cleome looks same as mine, though I also have one which is more purple. They self seed well in my zone but never too much.

Somewhat related, nurseries around here only carry the shorter plants, maybe 4’ or less, I want the 5 ’ ones. Would those be thecQueen Series?

I think the short ones are considered < 3'. Mine last year were that. One reference I read said Queen series is 4-6'.

As an update on this thread, my Sparkler Blush 2.0 germination test failed last fall. I read that the time to bloom is 80-90 days from germination so I decided not to try again this spring.

I kinda forgot all about cleomes until yesterday when I spotted a pretty pink variety stuck in a corner at a garden center and stuffed in one of those cardboard-y 6-packs with no cell separation. . I impulsively grabbed it, but when this note popped up today, I was reminded about spines and stinky odors. I think the one I purchased was a little bit smelly. I will have to find an out of the way place to put it. Hope I have one! It had no tag so who knows what it will be like. I read that pruning them early will cause them to branch out and stay shorter (like many plants). I'm going to do that.

I grew cleome from seed years ago and figured out the key is oscillating temps -- once sowed, they went in the fridge at night, out on the light light cart during the day until they germinated, then grew on under the lights. Zero germination until I started doing that.

I haven't grown them in a couple-few years. I like them, but I find placement difficult at my place. Too close to the house and the patio smells like pot, and the majority of my annuals are up by the house or on the patio/walkway in containers. I really like the foliage, and teh "Queen" series offers terrific height, which is often lacking in people's gardens.

HAHA now watch I'll stumble on a really nice one when I'm not looking and "find" a place for it :0p

can't believe I just wrote a long update with pics and hit submit and its gone! arggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

Well my update is that I unexpectedly got germination outside from fall sowing. When I planted my other stuff, I forgot all about the sowed seeds. This is June 22:

This is yesterday:

It has a bit of a purple tone that is not great (IMO). The one that germinated 6 feet away is pure pink:

This is the one I got in the garden center in May. It got real leggy real quick. As I recall, Sparkler Blush stayed bushy til late in the season.

I cut them down. Hoping for a 2nd flush not so leggy. Was going to put in a vase, but they seemed so messy for indoors.

WHen I first saw the cleome seedling, I was excited. Then I decided it took too long to flower so I wouldn't repeat attempts. But now I am deciding that August color can be hard to achieve, so I'm happy to try again.

The cleome phase continues...

Wendy I think they look great! And your seed-sown ones are better than the purchased ones. And boy they grew fast since June, huh?

Congrats!

:)

Dee

P.S. Boy looking at your photos I'm thinking I have to grow these again. Love the blooms, love the foliage.... putting these on the list for my fall seed orders!

I have had Violet Queen for years. It usually self sows well but over the winter, only one seedling came back. I will have to collect the seed and toss them where I want them in the fall.

More cleome love...I just saw hummingbirds feeding on them!