Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Ultimate Native Plant for Pollinators In North America: Cleome Serrulata

The Cleome Serrulata is a magnificent specimen.  It grows native from British Columbia, to California, to Texas, and up to Quebec.  Amazing as that is, the real powerhouse of these plants is how much the pollinators worship this plant.  Everyday ants work the plant, defending their territory from the native bees, European bees, wasps, hornets, moths, butterflies, and hummingbirds.  Starting at dawn it becomes a pollinator magnet like nothing I have seen.  It grows best in full sun, needs little water or care.  It has grown the biggest in my old gravel driveway thats been turned into a wildflower bed.  They were first started by throwing seed balls out in the fall, and reseed each year. They profusely shed seeds which can be gathered off the plant and used for making flour.  In my zone(5a) they die each fall.