Bring airy summer colour to a sunny bed or border with Cleome Sparkler Mix, a bushy, upright annual spider flower.
Ready to grow a border full of airy cleome blooms? Follow our step-by-step Cleome Grow Guide for primed-seed sowing, transplanting, spacing and care in your region.
Quick Grow Facts
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Plant: Sparkler-series ornamental cleome, Cleome hassleriana (botanical synonym of C. houtteana); upright, frost-tender annual.
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Seed form: primed; 10 or 100 seeds per pack. Priming does not confirm chemical-treatment status; follow your packet’s warnings.
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Season and position: warm-season growing, full sun and well-drained soil; plant out after local frost danger.
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Sowing: sow shallowly with a thin, loose covering of medium-grade vermiculite and keep the tray in light, following the original primed-Sparkler breeder method. Sow as supplied without chilling or presoaking. The label’s 5 mm entry does not specify covering material; see the guide for this distinction.
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Germination: digital label 7–14 days; breeder benchmark 4–6 days at 26–30°C by day and 20–21°C at night. The breeder figure is a controlled propagation benchmark; the digital label does not state its temperature conditions. Neither is a guarantee.
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Spacing: about 60–75 cm for open garden planting, based on original Sparkler Blush guidance; the supplier’s 30–45 cm gives a closer mass planting. No intensive cut-row recipe is established for this mix.
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Mature dimensions: supplier lists 61–91 cm tall × 91–112 cm wide; allow room for taller plants because published original-series dimensions differ.
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Flowers: summer display after establishment. The label’s 90–100 days has no stated clock start, so flowering is not promised by a fixed date.
Growing and handling
Raise young plants in individual cells, move intact root balls before they become root-bound, and harden off gradually. Water during establishment, avoid waterlogging and excessive feeding, and allow airflow. Support exposed plants if wind makes it necessary. A 15 cm nursery pot is not a guaranteed permanent home for a mature plant.
Wear gloves for spiny, sticky stems. Grow Sparkler as an ornamental; do not eat sowing seed or use it for sprouts or feed. Keep seed away from children and pets. Colours vary between seedlings; enjoy the flowers mainly in the garden and trial a few stems before relying on them for arrangements.
