Echter's Plant Finder

Other Names:  Spider Flower, Spider Plant

Group/Class:  Optimum Annuals Collection

Brand:  GreenFuse Botanicals Inc.

Description:

This densely branched, upright selection features beautiful violet-pink, spider-like flowers on showy green foliage; excellent drought and heat tolerance; wonderful performance in garden beds, borders and containers; stunning cut flower

Ornamental Features

Clementine™ Violet Spiderflower features showy spikes of violet spider-like flowers with pink overtones rising above the foliage from late spring to mid fall, which emerge from distinctive purple flower buds. Its pointy leaves remain dark green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Clementine™ Violet Spiderflower is an open herbaceous annual with a rigidly upright and towering form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Clementine™ Violet Spiderflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Clementine™ Violet Spiderflower will grow to be about 15 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Clementine™ Violet Spiderflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.