Name: Bread Baker Central Texas Hill Country (Zone 8b)
You should look into mail order seed companies. Many still do the old fashioned order form/send in a check if you don't like ordering online. Usually a better value. More seeds per packet and lots more choices than the big box stores or nurseries have.
The big box stores have their displays out for a while here. I agree ordering online is a lot more fun and have a much more interesting selection. They are more expensive though. For basics like marigolds and lettuce, the box stores are cheaper but I would rather buy directly from the seed companies and help keep them around.
My mom who also lives in IL, started seeds outdoors in a bed two years ago. The first year, she had maybe one plant. But they have self sowed last year and this. Win! I like them so much that I ordered some of the Queen variety seeds from Swallowtail. I got them in the ground yesterday along with some cosmos. Now I just have to wait 7 - 21 days (as the seed packet says).
Central Florida (Zone 9a) I recycle, reuse, repurpose!
I live in Central Florida and I bought a packet of Cleome seeds last spring and sowed the whole pack directly into the garden. Only one seed sprouted and I had a Cleome that was 5 ft tall. I saved all the seeds that I could and I also sprinkled the seeds all around.
The seeds that fell on the ground came up last fall after a rainy spell and they were just beautiful all fall and winter. Yes, they bloomed all winter. It was amazing. I gave away seeds and I still have lots of seeds left to sow on our property.
They do not transplant well. We have sandy soil and when it rains the water just runs right off and does not permeate the soil most of the time. They like my garden best because I have put a lot of rich compost into the soil for 2 yrs. I have a bunch of them coming up all over the garden.
Do try again Unclewill. Don't give up, cuz they are worth the trouble.
Good to know! I started Cleome seeds indoor last year, and not one germinated. This year, I again started some indoors, and a few weeks later direct sowed some. None germinated. Though I love the pictures of them, I've never seen one in person.
Your post makes me want to try to direct sow them again!
On a Never Ending Quest: First to learn...then to teach.
The soil here is sandy also, may be part of the problem. I've been adding compost to build it up but, with a large garden I just don't have enough to go around. I may try again in an area with heavier soil.
None of my direct sown annuals have done much of anything this year thanks to a massive heat wave/drought that hit just as they began to emerge. Poor little things cooked to death as they emerged. Even my old standbys fell victim. I may try direct sowing again this fall.
My soil is clay with limestone rocks of various sizes. I added compost and potting soil to the area where I planted the Cleome. Not sure if I should add more... ???
On a Never Ending Quest: First to learn...then to teach.
CarolineScott said:CLeome seeds need oscillation of temperature to break dormancy.
THis is especially so for the old cultivars and the wildflower ones.
Would you recommend sowing this year in late fall for next spring? I didn't get around to planting them this year and want to do it the easiest way. I am in zone 4B.
My mom loves cleomes, so I collect her seeds, usually in August, and just throw a bunch all around her patio and in her pots right after collecting them. They come up in late spring/early summer, in the grass, the pots, and even in between the brick tiles of the patio. They are easy to pull out if they grow in unwanted places.
Somehow I have got away from growing Cleome for several years.
Yes I would try sowing half a packet in the late fall.
Sow the other half a few weeks before the last frost in spring.
The Wild ones , Cleome serrulata , reseed themselves here.
The germination databases all say they need oscillating temperatures.
The Deno database devotes a whole chapter to Cleome germination.
@UncleWill I would not acidify your soil in NC. I pretty much guarantee that my 8+ pH is more alkaline than yours and the cleomes grow like weeds here. My Mom saved some seeds for me and I threw them on the ground in the spring and they were thick as hair on a dog. I had to thin them. They volunteered the next year, but last spring there were only a few. Nothing grew last year though.
Slowcala!
