Family Commelinaceae.
Originating from Mexico.
- Vivid purple leaves trail gracefully from baskets and containers, or as bedding.
- Small pink flowers appear among the foliage in summer.
- Fast-growing and easy, excellent for summer colour.
The Purple Spiderwort Plant in Your Garden
It creates a rich, exotic display of foliage and flowers, unique amongst hanging basket, bedding, conservatory and houseplant varieties. Its dark purple evergreen foliage provides the perfect backdrop for its small pink flowers. Despite their small size, they make a striking impact due to their vivid contrast at the tips of the trailing stems.
Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’ is rated as tender in UK gardens, yet it survived -6°C at our Norwich branch. It grows rapidly, forming trailing stems 30–60cm long in a single season. Adventurous gardeners in Norfolk’s sheltered spots could try overwintering it. In Suffolk’s mild coastal gardens, you can plant it as bedding — its fast-growing nature offers great value, even if only for one season.
This adaptable plant offers many planting options. Its trailing, cascading habit suits any elevated position, yet it is equally happy carpeting over the ground. It thrives in part shade, making it perfect for scrambling below shrubs and trees where it benefits from their shelter. Spilling over pots or raised beds, it makes a chic addition to contemporary outdoor living spaces and garden rooms.
Did you know?
The purple Tradescantia is very effective at improving indoor air quality by removing VOC’s, volatile organic compounds, commonly emitted by cleaning materials, paints and varnishes.
Growing Tips for Your Purple Trailing Hanging Basket Plant, Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’
- Soil and sun: any free-draining soil or compost, in full sun or part shade.
- Planting: pot at any time of year. Plant out as bedding or place potted plants on a patio from spring to early autumn. Never plant a dry plant! Plunge for 10 minutes to drench the root ball before planting. Do not add soil improvers.
- Watering and care: Water regularly in summer. Place in a frost-free environment and water infrequently in winter. Alternatively, experiment by leaving it outside; it may survive a mild winter and grow into a much larger plant.
Although Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’ has become a popular purple trailing hanging-basket plant, it hails from the forest floors of Mexico. A plant was collected in the early 1900s and planted in a German botanical garden, where it was ‘discovered’. It was introduced to horticulture in the 1950’s and is now one of the most popular houseplants worldwide.
