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.
Cleome serrulata grows here really well most years. The 2011 summer killed everything but we'll have it again next summer.
ReplyDeleteMy only objection is those big fat thorny stems that have to be pulled out.
I get stuck every time and yet half a dozen plants get places in the beds. I could rename my blog "We garden for pollinators" and not be far off the mark.
I didn't know that they grew with thorns. None of mine grow thorns, if you would like some seeds I'd be happy to share some with you.
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of this stuff in my yard. I thought it was a weed and tried to kill it for a couple years, then noticed neighbors had it in a flower bed so I left it alone and saw the hummingbirds drinking from it. So I got curious and did a google image search to try to find out what it was and ended up on this page. Very nice pictures, thank you.
ReplyDelete