PlantFiles: Virginia Spiderwort, Lady's Tears
Tradescantia virginiana

There are very few of these lovelies growing at the edge of our woods here, and I plan to clear the weeds around it so it will spread. It won't be invasive where it currently grows.

I bought this plant three years ago and in that short time it has spread throughout my lawn and all of my flower beds. I pull it up and it just keeps coming back.

Six years ago my family moved about 45 minutes away from where we were living. Moving just that short distance was like moving to someplace very far because where we moved from there were many neighborhoods and all of the land had already been developed. Where we moved to was plenty of undeveloped land and many people have acres not small lots that they live on. Every day was a wonderful discovery. I remember the first flowers to pop up on our acre was on the little spiderwort plants we inherited with the house. I was so delighted and I thought they were wild. I have never seen these plants for sale. I discovered them though looking through a plant book and now know they were lovingly planted here very long ago. I also love the natural beauty they bring to my yard. What very forgiving plants they are indeed. I hope never to lose them, which I fear I may if I don't do something about the goat we rescued !

Ive had this plant for about five years. Ive had mixed success with it. Most years it does good, but some years it does not (especially when its droughty). It does best in partial shade, and moist soil with good drainage. Helps to trim it back after booming, since it tends to get weedy. Does have many babys shooting up around it. They are some-what hard to get rid of; I have to dig them up. I would reccomend this plant if you dont mind a bit of spreading. It has pritty jewel-toned purple flowers; the dark green spiky foliage adds good texture to my garden too.

If you want a plant that is easy to move/remove, this one probably isn't it! If you want something that grows quickly and easily, requires next to no care once established, and makes you smile each time you see it--spiderwort may be just the thing.

When my husband and I purchased our home several years back, some spiderwort plants came with it. Wanting a more "formal" garden, I set out to remove this "simple" plant. To my surprise, that seemed only to strengthen it's resolve to remain a part of the garden. Every time I'd think I had it all gone, up would creep another plant...or two..or three!

In a moment of inspiration (or desperation?!), I decided to "work with it" instead of fighting it, to see what would happen. The reward for this kindness/act of surrendor? A proliferation of low-care plants with simple-yet-pretty flowers that last for far longer in the gardening season than many of the other flowers in my garden! Now I look forward to seeing it return each year.

I have this plant all in my lawn. It pops up in early spring. By the time the grass starts greening up, the spiderwort starts looking bad. So I just mow it down with the grass and every spring it keeps coming back. I have noticed here that they do prefer a little shade over full sun.

I like to show people how the flowers turn to ink when they close up. I think I read somewhere that it was used as dye by the Native Americans. At dusk the flowers stand out so much that they seem to glow. They are low maintenance; just crop them back when they look ragged, and they will grow back fresh and new. My information says it is hardy in zones 3-10.

This plant was in my garden 18 years ago when I bought the house--it has taken me this long to try to get rid of it, with no success. I live in NH, the plants get almost full sun during the summer and they still thrive-unfortunately. I find them to be very invasive. I thought I had dug them all out 2 years ago, but they are still here. Every phlox that I moved to new locations also has a new crop. I have thrown it in the full shade where I dump waste; it doesn't matter-it still lives. I left some in a wheel barrel full of water, in the shade for 4 wks and they were still alive-I gave them to my neighbor to fill her gully.

I planted a very small spiderwort last year (late summer) and it starting growing very quickly, although it needed to be supported. After the horrendously cold winter we had here I thought I would lose several of my plants. Lo and behold, this guy is just marvelous this year. It has very thick, bamboo or corn-like stalks and needs no support. It has been flowering for several weeks and it looks like there is no end in sight for it. I will need to seperate it in the spring as it has, at least, quintupled in size and is starting to intrude on some other flowers although the nieghborhood cats like to sleep under it when it gets hot. My spiderwort is pale purple to white on the outer edges with streaks of graduating purple to the purple fuzzy inside. In the spring it gets midday to afternoon sun, and morning to afternoon sun in the summer and fall.

It grew imperssively in clay soil against the NW wall of our previous house, but since moving across town to a wooded lot with much loamier soil, and dapled deciduous shade, we've tried unsuccessfully to grow it in several locations. I honestly don't know what the difference is.

I have HUNDREDS of Tradescantias as native plants growing wild in my garden. The blooms on T. virginiana and T. ohiensis are indistinquishable to me, so I wasn't sure which variety I have. As it turns out (from a post in the DG Plant ID Forum), close examination with a magnifying glass of the plants' sepals is required to determine if you have T. virginiana or T. ohiensis. If the sepals are "hairy," then it is T. virginiana; if glabrous (smooth), then it is T. ohienis. My plants' sepals are smooth, and T. ohiensis is the species reported as occurring most frequently in Florida, so I am labeling my plants as T. ohiensis.

Distinquishing between the two species probably matters only to the very curious or those of us with nothing better to do, but you may want to examine your Tradescantias for signs of pubescence to determine which variety you have.

They transplant easily even when bare root. I move them around my garden almost daily and use them for effect at the rear of most all of my flower beds. They can grow to be about 4' tall at the backs of borders when they have to compete for the light with other plants.

Spiderwort grows wild in the wooded section of our land in Oliver Springs, TN. I also transplanted some to my wildflower garden & it has performed well. It is a very dainty and delicate-looking flower--but actually a strong survivor as long as planted in partial shade. It also grows in full sun along the "shores" of our large creek, where it has plenty of water, but tends to be a lot smaller and less colored than the same plant gowing in part shade.

I first met these plants in open fields at the edge of Chicago in the 1940's. They were introduced to me as "snot-noses" because of the oozing sap when picked. In more recent years I've dug them up where they were growing wild along a seldom used railroad track. They've always been easy to grow and mostly stayed put and "bloomed where they were planted".

I was given this plant by an elderly lady about 20 years ago and gave some to family and we all have in yards still. It is invasive but so pretty. It pops up all over and grands love to pick. My son has some that are about 3 feet tall. It has always come back in S.C. for us. The color does same to change from light to dark purple - Blue.

I have a sunken back yard in Atlanta proper. Spiderwort has taken over almost all of the heavy shade areas. It even pops up in shade lines of trees in the sunnier areas. Creates a complete stand that blocks all other plants (even wild violet!) and I have seen individual plants as tall as 3'. Majority are typical at 18-24". Have naturalized and covered approximately 400 square feet of my shade area. May be native, may have been planted about twenty to thirty years ago as there is a beautiful specimen Mahonia in my yard that is 11' tall by 8' wide.

Perhaps because the stands of spiderwort are so thick, I have not noticed any flopping or falling out in the hot humid summers. My soil is just about solid Piedmont clay with a hearty earthworn population that keeps it quite workable. Soil stays moist year-round.

It grows and blooms year round in my Florida garden. Yes, it is invasive. Even knowing that I brought it here from a roadside find and have been selectively removing all but the darkest purples. The colors are noticably darker anyway in the cool of winter and lighter during summer. Very beautiful, very carefree except for removal where they are not wanted. I find control easy. Bloom stays open till the heat of day closes them. Cool cloudy days they may not close till very late.

I grew a variety I believe was called "Osprey" in Sequim, Washington. The cheery little flowers were not large or impressive, but they were a constant at my doorstep for as long as it was there. It bloomed from April through until the hard frosts finally knocked it down in the fall. I assumed it wouldn't be winter hardy in my mountainous zone 5 yard, but it returned the next spring with the crocus and graced us for another season.

It survived my toddler and his bigwheels, the lawnmower straying over it's crown, the love the cats had for it's neighbor, the catnip, and any other number of insults and didn't seem to mind. It just kept sending out happy little flowers, all season long.

The plant was indestructible, but I didn't have an issue with volunteers or undesirable spread. In fact, I lifted the plant two years later in a bed rework, and didn't get it back in the ground in time to save it, and was sad to have lost it. There were no returnees from the roots, and I certainly left some bits in the ground.

I live in Wisconsin, and have found this plant in several areas on the edges of the woods on my property. I was intrigued by one of them (the largest and most noticeable bunch), so I moved it to a desirable area. I had no clue what they were until I found this site. The flowers are very dainty and delicate. They have been growing fine for me in both full sun and shady areas. Just when I think I have discovered them all, a new little group appears somewhere else!

I have Spiderwort in my garden for the first time this year & am quite pleased with it. I'm in Southern Ontario in a zone 5 to 6 garden depending on varying micro-climates with-in my garden.

Here in south Georgia, this plant is considered an invasive weed that is very hard to get rid of.The root system looks very much like a long-legged spider. If any piece of the root is left in the ground, it will form a new plant. Therefore, it is not easy to destroy.

I discovered a wild Spiderwort today while clearing brush. Lived here all my life, first I've noticed. Am in Blair Co. PA. Intend to dig up and plant in my perennial bed beside tree stump.

This plant grows wild in central and southern Illinois. Mostly found in simishaded areas. Very nice in a woodland area. Thx. Beckykay

In the area of Connecticut where I grew up, this plant popped up just about everywhere there was light to medium shade. It would bloom for most of the summer and I used to pick bouquets of it for my mother. I haven't noticed it in the area where I live now which is considered zone 3 to the colder portion of zone 4.

I found spiderwort growing wild in my yard in Fort Worth, Tx when I moved in 10 years ago. I gathered it all up and tried to corral it. It sometimes escapes but I like the way it goes on and on for weeks while other flowers are not up yet. It is a good cut flower as long as water is changed frequently. It needs no care except maybe staking. Dies completely back to let later plants have their glory. I have 6 or 7 colors around my yard and the bees and butterflies are regular visitors.

i have mine in dappled sunlight,mostly shade.it is doing fine, having grown and produced blossoms the first year transplanted. Still gets floppy and needs to be cut back.

Purple flowers open for a day, with many opening over a 4-6 week period during the mid-summer season.

In warm climates, plants decline after bloom in summer heat. Cut back then and they usually reappear with new fall foliage and often bloom; in the north, cut back as well after flowering to keep plants from flopping and becoming straggly, and likewise they will return with fall growth and often bloom; divide every 2-3 years to rejuvenate

Native to much of the U.S., the common name's origin, 'Spiderwort' could have arisen because sap from the broken stem forms spider web-like filaments. The angular leaf arrangement, suggesting a squatting spider, suggests another possible origin for the name.