Tradescantia
'Tradescantia Virginica, known in New England as the common Spiderwort, grows wild on the prairies of the West. To ride mile after mile through sheets of that quivering, evanescent blue, which words are powerless to describe, is to lose all thought of earth in a very heaven of color.'¹ IDA M. GARDNER, 1906
Tradescantia plants offer a fiesta of fantastic foliage. The name Tradescantia in fact honours English naturalists John Tradescant the Elder (c.1570s-1638) and John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662), who brought many new plants to British gardens.
Tradescantia is a genus containing 85 species in the Commelinaceae family, originating from across the Americas. Trads can have the daintiest of flowers but it's the foliage they're known for. Some have leaves that seem to shimmer whilst others have the most tactile large leaves cascading down thick stems. The foliage can range from bright pink to almost black in colour. We currently have about a dozen varieties available on our website. Also look out for Gibasis - these were previously classified as Tradescantias. All these plants are incredibly simple to grow and propagate with ease.
We just call them 'Tradescantias' or 'Trads' but there are various common names (some of which are controversial). The name 'Inchplant' is thought to refer to either the plant's rapid growth or the spacing of its leaves. 'Spiderwort' gets its name from the sap that forms web-like threads when a stem is cut.
The more problematic term 'Wandering Jew' is linked to the Christian legend of the Wandering Jew, but has developed antisemitic connotations. Recently, there have been moves to eliminate this and other possibly offensive names, advocating alternatives like 'wandering dude' or 'wandering willie', but there's absolutely no way I can bring myself to use any of these names!
