Spiderwort, Virginia spiderwort
Tradescantia virginiana

Family: Commelinaceae

What it is like

Bloom Color: Blue, Pink, Purple, White. Main Bloom Time: Early summer, Late summer, Late spring, Mid summer. Form: Spreading or horizontal, Upright or erect.

Tradescantia virginiana is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.4 m (1ft 4in) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 7. It is in flower from June to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). The plant is not self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.

Height (m): 0.4

Where it is found

Woods, scrub, meadows and roadsides.

Eastern N. America - Connecticut to Wisconsin, south to Georgia and Tennessee.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Leaves - raw or cooked. The very young shoots and leaves can be chopped and added to salads or cooked as a potherb. Flowers - raw. They make an attractive edible garnish.

Medicine

Rating: 1

The roots are laxative. They are also used as a tea in the treatment of kidney and stomach ailments and women's complaints. A poultice of the leaves is applied to stings, insect bites and cancers.

Kidney: Used in the treatment of kidney diseases

Laxative: Stimulates bowel movements in a fairly gentle manner.

Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.

Women's complaints: A very vague title, it deals with a miscellany of problems peculiar to the female sex.

Other

Rating:

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

Landscape Uses:Border, Container, Ground cover, Woodland garden. An easily grown plant, it thrives in any good rather moist soil. Succeeds in dry soils. Succeeds in dappled woodland shade or in full sun. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. Plants often self-sow in British gardens. A very variable species, there are a number of named forms selected for their ornamental value. Plants in this genus seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits. Plants are self-sterile, at least two genetically distinct plants (and not divisions from the same plant) must be grown if seed is required. Special Features: Attractive foliage, North American native, Naturalizing, Wetlands plant, Suitable for cut flowers, Extended bloom season in Zones 9A and above, Attractive flowers or blooms. For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. The plant growth habit is a runner spreading indefinitely by rhizomes or stolons.

Propagating it: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring or autumn. Cuttings of young shoots, July in a frame. They root easily and quickly.

Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 4-9

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

T. virginica.