Cleome plants are not too popular anymore and I do not know why. They are hard to start indoors but come up readily in the garden if you allow the seeds to drop. Once the flower spike opens up, cleomes draw attention. They bloom all summer long on 3 to 4 foot high plants and are drought tolerant. As for pests, grasshoppers and deer hate them.
As I stated before, cleomes are hard to start indoors because of lighting, temperature, and needing bottom heat. Also, they are hard to transplant, so just plant the seeds in the flowerbed. Once germinated they grow fast. The hotter, the better.
Coming from South America and parts of the Southwestern U.S., the Navajo Indians tribes used this plant to eat and use various parts for herbal uses. The dark violet cleome was used for a dye for rugs and pottery. England adopted this plant for use in its Victorian gardens.
They are also pollinator plants bringing bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds in the garden. Also called Rocky Mountain flower, spider flower, cat’s whiskers, and grandmother’s whiskers.