You're in luck. Cleome are easy to trasplant, as long as you work gently. When the seeds first sprout, they put out two baby leaves, which are not TRUE leaves: meaning they are shaped differently than the other leaves will be and they will eventually fall off. So, the true leaves are all the others that grow after the first two. They grow in sets of two, one on each side of the stem, so three sets of true leaves means the first two, which don't count, plus 3 more sets of two, for a total of six true leavss. OCCASIONALLY a plant will throw an odd leaf that doesn't have a partner. If it continues to grow, count the odd leaf as one set. By the way, once the true leaves start coming, cleome leaves grow in clusters of 3 leaflets. So, I suppose, you could say that one set has six leaflets. :) Since you planted so many seeds in one pot, I wouldn't wait too long to trasplant them. The more tangled the roots get, the more likely they will be to go into transplant shock. Once they have two sets of true leaves, use a soup spoon to scoop each plant out of the pot and plant it into previously well prepared garden soil. Water it immediately. Set your plants about a foot apart and they'll look very nice. When scooping your baby plants out, put the spoon halfway between two plants and push straight down so that it will break as few roots as possible and leave the longest possible roots to each one. Cleome are tall and they will get bushy on their own. I cannot think of any good reason to pinch them back (that in a moment). Do, however, plant them about one foot apart in bunches of at least 3, preferably 5 or more, plants. That way, you'll have a good looking mass of color. If you're planting in a bed, it will look nice to somewhat evenly scatter groups of plants evenly down the length of the bed. Not necessarily in a straight row, but still making a "line". Remember, they will get tall, so put them behind shorter plants. Pinching a plant back, simply means cutting off the tips of the growing stem or branches in order to force the plants to bush out. It's best done when the plant is young, and so most of us use our thumbnail and forefinger to cut the stem. It just takes a "pinch". See? When the growing tip is cut off, the plant will push out new branches from the places where the remaining leaves meet the stem. It's an excellent technique for getting the maximum look from your plants. You can often even take the pinchings and root them to make more plants. Coleus are a great plant to learn this technique from. You'll be glad to know that if your cleome are a success this year, you probably won't have to do this next year. They are heavy seeders and you will find lots of baby plants in your garden next year sprouting and coming up on their own. Be sure to remember what they look like so you don't weed them out! I love cleome. They are beautiful and easy to grow, and they don't mind extreme heat, humidity or drought. I don't mind their smell at...

Cleome,is an annuals plant unless you keep them in the heated greenhouse or indoor. They don't come back from the roots, to answer your question. Hope it helps.

Stantard I have been taking container, a pair of scissors and just cutting off all the lower seed pods of my cleomes. I have pink and purple mixed together and then a beautiful rose seed by themselves. I am trying to save seed from several flowers so I can try and trade for something I do not have. I have learned my lesson this year about spending money on so many different plants. The hummingbirds that I have visiting with me right now are low rent. They do not require expensive or exotic plants.

if you get them to reseed ... be ruthless in culling down to a manageable numbers every spring ... i had them years ago .... was thrilled at first.. but they are relentless aggressive fall seeders ... and eventually over the years i had millions of seedlings ... then one spring i had had enough ... lol .. and that was that ... they were just the plain old white and pink ... ken btw .. a huge massing of them.. can be reminiscent of skunk ....