Top five annual flowers for the kitchen garden- #2, Cleome

Cleome, also known as 'spider plant', latin name Cleome hassleriana, is an old friend from my first days as a gardener. I was  a lot less attentive to my garden's needs then, and even when I neglected to water or fertilize my Cleome they still thrived and flowered, and produced lots of seeds to save for the next season. Their stately heads of pink, purple and white flowers  still rise above my current garden and provide great nectar targets for hummingbirds and hummingbird moths.
I have not bought Cleome seeds in about 30 years. When the seedling come up too thick I thin them, (the compound foliage makes even small seedlings easy to identify) and they tolerate transplanting on cool moist days. I sometimes select for just one color, but often let them grow mixed.
Because of their spiny stems Cleome are rarely eaten by rabbits, deer or woodchucks, so they can liven up the unfenced parts of the kitchen garden. They also make fine cut flowers when collected early in the day-- rememnber to wear gloves or the spiny stems will hurt you!
They also produce flowering side shoots if the main flower head is removed. The seeds can be dried and stored in the fridge, but I generally just grab a few plants after the first frost and shake the seed heads over any bare patch where I want them to grow the following year.
Here's a pic of late season Cleome flowering behind Sol's doghouse: