Tradescantia, Spiderwort - Flowering Perennials

Tradescantias are named after the famous English plantsman John Tradescant the younger who discovered and named the Genus in the 1630's.

They are a fascinating group of plants, though not showy in the way that some other plant groups are, one for the plant connoisseur who knows what they are looking at.

Having said this, these plants will flower continually for months on end from mid to late spring into the fall if deadheaded regularly. They do best in full sun, tolerating partial shade for some of the day, the yellow leaved varieties coloring up better in full sun.

Propagation is by division in the spring or fall or by seed sown in mid spring, germination is slow and so the pots used should be retained for several months rather than discarded.