Growing and Caring for Tradescantia

One of the real joys of life at Gardzen is meeting new plants and working with them in our own garden spaces. Here at the Gardzen Test Gardens we were familiar with Tradescantia but we had never attempted to grow it ourselves. With some inspiration from one of our readers, we acquired a few different varietals of Tradescantia this garden season and we are fascinated by this plant. It’s a lovely addition to many garden spaces and it’s flexible enough for both in-ground and container/indoor gardens. So, let’s dig in and learn a bit more about growing and caring for Tradescantia!

A quick note before we begin: Tradescantia may be toxic to pets, including cats, dogs, and horses. The symptom is generally dermatitis, or skin irritation. If your pet has had contact with Tradescantia, you may want to contact a veterinarian.

What is Tradescantia?

There are around 85 species in the genus Tradescantia, all of which are native to the Americas and many of which have become naturalized elsewhere. These plants are wildflowers, and because they vary a bit from species to species they have a bewildering number of different names: dayflower, inch plant, spiderwort, trinity flower, and flor de Santa Lucía among others.

Tradescantia species can be either climbing or trailing, with succulent or semi-succulent stems. Some varietals have semi-succulent leaves as well, but a typical Tradescantia leaf is thin with a clear central stem; they may vary in length from around 1 to 18 inches/3 to 45 cm. Life color can vary; green and purple are common along with some lovely variegated varietals. While the greenery can be lovely, the flowers are what make Tradescantia so special. Most species or varietals have three petals with six yellow anthers. The petals themselves can be white, pink, purple, blue, and many shades thereof. Combined with the wide range of leaf length, this makes it easy to find the perfect Tradescantia for your space.

Growing and Caring for Tradescantia

In the wild Tradescantia species have a wide range, and are adapted to an equally wide variety of conditions and circumstances. So the good news is that there’s a Tradescantia for your garden space, but you may need to do a bit of research to figure out what it is! T. zebrina and T. spathacea are very popular as houseplants, so those are generally a good starting point for most of us.  Gardeners in colder climates may want to consider Tradescantia from the Andersoniana Group like ‘Sweet Kate Spiderwort’

In general, Tradescantia species tend to prefer bright yet indirect light. If grown outdoors they can tolerate direct sun but will benefit from afternoon shade as a defense against leaf scorch. They do well in moist, well-drained acidic soils, so for container plants most container mixes or potting mixes should do well. Temperature requirements vary widely, with the tropical varietals of Tradescantia preferring temperatures between 60 and 80F/15 and 26C. Other varietals are hardy up to USDA Zone 4, so again do your research and get the Tradescantia that best meets your needs.

We recommend giving due consideration to the foliage while selecting a Tradescantia. The flowers are so lovely but they don’t last long individually. Flowering season is generally between 4 and six weeks, so you’ll have a lovely and evolving visual interest in your garden space with these plants. We’ve read that pinching back the stems encourages new growth, but we’re still learning about Tradescantia so we recommend you read some of the sources we’ve linked to here for more details.

We have a lot more to learn about this plant ourselves, so thank you for joining us on this journey. If you have experiences with Tradescantia, particularly as a container plant, we’d love to hear from you so please get in touch!