Cleoma spinosa is an amazing plant! One of the few in which the view becomes more beautiful and exotic over time.
The secret lies in the amazing features of Cleoma: the setting and maturation of numerous seeds in no way affect the duration of flowering. Pay attention to the inflorescence: an unusually long, thin pistil and thinner long stamens! Protruding beyond the far edge of the flower rosette, they create an ephemeral extra volume of the inflorescence. In perfect harmony with the flowers of Cleoma, the seeds also look-elegant pods on long and thin, but very strong stems. When the Cleoma begins to bloom, the first tier of flowers blooms on a long peduncle, crowned with a small rosette of buds. It seems that the flowering will not last long, but it is not so! The flowers turn into seed pods, the buds turn into flowers, and more and more buds form on the top of the growing peduncle!
This continues from June until the cold weather sets in. Many flower growers, looking at this exquisite plant, come to the conclusion that they certainly can not afford to grow such an exotic flower. But it’s not! In fact, Cleoma is a hardy, unpretentious, moderately demanding plant. It is worth observing its few requirements, and it will thank you with a magnificent long flowering!
What does Cleoma need?
She will be happy with a fertile soil with a neutral PH, stagnant water at the roots is excluded. Even constant waterlogging is not useful for cleoma. For many gardeners, this is a plus, during periods of drought, the cleoma needs to be watered once a week! Choose a sunny place for it and do not thicken the planting: there should be at least 40 cm (1.3 feet) between the plants.
Landing method.
Gardeners of the Central and northern regions recommend planting it in a seedling way. Residents of the southern regions can sow cleoma directly into the ground, even in early spring (in March) or even in winter – in November.
And yet – if you want to get the most lush flowering Cleoma-regularly feed it with complex mineral fertilizers!
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