Spider flower, aka cleome, is an annual that blooms continuously from early summer until the first frost. The plant can grow four or five times larger in just a few months, with abundant flowers. Carefree and deer resistant. Worth re-planting every spring.

The English name cleome often makes me think of Cleopetra, although there’s no connection between the two, whatsoever :). The Chinese name, 醉蝶花, literally means drunk butterfly flower. Interestingly, there was a butterfly on this purple cleome’s profile picture.