Growing Cleome: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · July 18, 2026

Cleome, also called spider flower, is one of the taller plants on this site, anywhere from 1.5 to 6 feet depending on the cultivar, and it earns that height by being a serious draw for hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and predatory insects that help keep pest populations down elsewhere in the garden. The classic species form does have a downside worth knowing up front: sticky sap, a noticeable odor, and stems armed with small spines.

Sowing it, and giving it shelter from wind

Cleome can be started indoors about 7 weeks before your last frost or direct-sown around 2 weeks after it, seed set a quarter-inch deep. It benefits from a spot sheltered from wind given its height, and it needs relatively little else once established. Plant 1 per square foot and place it where its mature height won’t shade shorter vegetables nearby.

The sap and the spines are chemistry, not disease

Standard-species cleome that gets sticky, smelly, or scratchy to handle isn’t diseased or struggling. That’s just the plant’s natural chemistry, and it’s the main reason thornless hybrids like the one above exist. Leggy, sparse-looking plants usually mean not enough sun or too much crowding; give cleome full sun and its full square foot to keep it bushy rather than stretched.

A tall backdrop for the north edge

Cleome doesn’t have documented companion or antagonist pairings on this site yet. See the full companion guide for cleome for what’s tracked. Its height and pollinator draw make it a strong tall backdrop plant in the Garden Designer, best placed along a north edge so it isn’t shading vegetables that need full sun.

Companion planting guide for Cleome (Spider Flower) · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Cleome (Spider Flower) tolerates either.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Cleome (Spider Flower) plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-6 ft.

Varieties worth considering

• Senorita Rosalita: A Proven Winners hybrid bred thornless, odorless, and sterile. It doesn't set seed pods, which means longer bloom and no self-seeding, but it must be bought as a transplant since it can't be grown from saved seed. (source)
• 'Linde Armstrong': University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension describes this as a very compact, non-scented, thornless cultivar at just 18-24 inches, well under the species' usual height. Unlike Senorita Rosalita it's grown from seed, so it's the pick if you want the thornless, odorless traits without buying transplants every year. (source)
• Queen series: The traditional seed-grown type Wisconsin Extension lists at 3-5 feet, in Cherry, Lilac, Rose, Violet and White. This is the classic species-type cleome, spines, scent and all, so pair it with the placement advice below rather than expecting Linde Armstrong's manners. (source)

Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.

Where to buy cleome seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing cleome (spider flower)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Cleome (Spider Flower): A tall, wind-loving beneficial-insect magnet that classic varieties carry a spine and a smell most gardeners aren't warned about.

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