Gardening

Plant of the Week: Spiderwort

By Dr. William M. Johnson, Galveston County Extension Agent - Horticulture

September 5, 2007

Wildflowers typically take up residence in our gardens by one of two routes: either on their own accord or, more often, we plant them. Plant breeders can make striking improvements to common wildflowers including spiderwort (shown above).

Photo credit: Heidi Sheesley, TreeSearch Farms

As wildflowers, spiderworts are spring ephemerals that provide striking displays of floral color. The characteristic three-petaled spiderwort flowers are produced in a terminal cluster in shades of blue, pink or white from mid spring till early summer. Flowers last but a single day, but plants continue to bloom. When the stems of spiderworts are cut, a secretion is released which becomes threadlike and silky upon hardening—hence the common name.

Spiderwort has a history of confusion and misidentification. Surprisingly, it was one of the earliest New World plants introduced to Europe, primarily because it was mistaken for a plant that Algonquin Indians used in weaving.

The second misidentification came when early 17th century botanists began classifying plants. Spiderwort is named after John Tradescant Sr., the head gardener for King Charles I of England. As a subscriber to the Virginia Co., Tradescant received shipments of a number of American plants, including the Virginia spiderwort. On page 49 of his 1633 Herbal, John Gerard illustrates with a block cut print a plant he calls "Phalangium Virginianum Tradescanti," giving as its common English name "Tradescants Virginian Spiderwort." It’s the spiderwort we know today as T. virginiana.

Gerard illustrates four other spiderworts, none of which are related to the plant we know today by that name. Reading his discussion of "the vertues" of using these plants, we find they are to be ground up and mixed with ale to protect against the bite of a Phalangium spider. Phalangium spiders, it turns out, are actually close relatives of spiders and non-venomous. They are commonly called harvester spiders, the most common being daddy-longlegs.

Mixing spiderworts with ale was a good excuse for a midsummer drinking binge to help ward off "dancing madness," a common problem in rural areas. Afflicted people had headaches, sweating, trembling and twitching. The problem was probably caused by ergot-infected rye (a type of fungal infection of the seed) but spider bites were blamed. Patients who imbibed the spiderwort infused ale twitched and danced about the villages until the effects of ergot poisoning—or the alcohol—wore off.

Occasionally, a common wildflower will be improved upon by a plant breeder and become an integral component of plants grown in the nursery trade. That is now happening with Tradescantia, the common spiderwort growing in moist woodlands and even along highways.

In this instance, plant breeders have made striking improvements to this hardy wildflower. The hybrid spiderworts are clump-forming perennials with narrow, slightly arching foliage. Spiderworts should be planted in moist, fertile soil in part sun or shade. They can be used in containers, as a mass planting or at the edge of a pond.

The lightly fragrant flowers pop out one or two at a time—opening 1½ inches wide and flat in the heat of the day, then fading to be replaced by new blooms the next morning. Our collection of hybrid spiderworts to be available at the Master Gardeners’ Ornamental & Perennial Seminar & Sale includes the following cultivars:

• ‘Concord Grape’ Spiderwort: ‘Concord Grape’ has clusters of bright violet blue, three-petaled flowers with fuzzy purple stamens topped with golden yellow pollen. The foliage is blue-green.

• ‘Purple Profusion’ Spiderwort: ‘Purple Profusion’ has deep green foliage with purple striping. Bright deep purple triangular flowers with gold stamens attract pollinating insects.

• ‘Red Grape’ Spiderwort: ‘Red Grape’ provides a rosy hue for brightly shaded area of the garden. It has blue-green foliage and triangular red-violet flowers with fuzzy magenta stamens tipped with golden yellow pollen.

• ‘Snow Cap’ Spiderwort: ‘Snow Cap’ will brighten up a shady area! Its triangular snow white flowers contrast beautifully with the blue-green foliage.

• ‘Sweet Kate’ Spiderwort: ‘Sweet Kate’ offers a vibrant golden-yellow foliage that contrasts beautifully with the profusion of large deep blue flowers produced. This cultivar can serve as a bright companion for purple-foliaged plants.

Spiderworts are easy to grow and provide variety to the landscape. Make a note on your gardening calendar to attend the Master Gardeners’ Ornamental & Perennial Seminar & Sale to see this collection and well a variety of other plants for the home landscape.

Dr. Johnson is a horticulturist with the Galveston County Extension Office of Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University. Visit his web site at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/index.htm

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