When I was about 16, my biology teacher showed me a tradescantia cell under a microscope. For the life of me I can’t remember what we were looking at: stomata or the effects of plasmolysis, perhaps? I just remember looking up from the minute world of cells in this simple plant and falling headlong in love. Not long after that I took over the biology department greenhouse and the rest, as they say, is history.
If I was rewriting my past, I’d insert an orchid or a carnivorous plant, but instead I chose the one that the biology department couldn’t kill. And for that reason, I’d recommend it to you, too.
Spiderworts are almost indestructible. You can take them right up to the brink (and, for any biology teacher looking for a lesson, the edge of plasmolysis) and then revive them in an hour or so. They are a very forgiving houseplant. On top of that, they really don’t mind low light levels. As long as there is good ambient light they will be happy, so they are perfect for growing in north- and east-facing rooms or in dim corners.
The genus is native to the new world, from Canada to South America. They are known as weak scramblers and grow in their native habitat in woodlands and open fields. Take a weak scrambler, put it in a pot and you have a very nice trailing plant for the house.
I grow the variety ‘Green Hill’, a hybrid of Tradescantia fluminensis, a South American species that grows in humid, damp and shaded spots, such as the rainforest. In my house, that’s the bathroom. It hangs from the towel rack and thrives on the shower steam. I dunk it in the shower once a week during spring and summer, every other week in the winter, and that’s about it. If you like silvery foliage, then T. zebrina, with its purple and silver striped leaves is another option; this one grows in South American wetlands and along river banks, so will thrive in the bathroom or by the kitchen sink.
The other variety I grow is purple spiderwort, T. pallida ‘Purpurea’. This is a slightly hardier type that is more tolerant of drier conditions. If you want good purple colour you do need to give it bright, but not direct, light – otherwise it will go a deep dark green and grow rather leggy.
With any of these plants, if you like them, you can grow hundreds for free. Just pinch off a section of stem and root it in water. You’ll find that the plant has a habit of dropping stems: if they fall into another pot they’ll root this way, too.
