Zigzag Spiderwort (Tradescantia subaspera-Dayflower family /Commelinaceae)
This Missouri native is a relative of our familiar cultivated perennial. It commonly stretches to full and willow-like 3' height. The foliage is grass-like with only slight branching and the central stems appear to zigzag as they connects with the alternating leaves. These strap-like leaves are sometimes as much as 12" long and nearly 2" across, but more often only half this size.
Zigzag Spiderwort blooms gently in the shade for several weeks mid-summer. Each individual flower lasts only a single day (hence the botanical connection with other “day flowers”). Because this woodland beauty keeps attractive foliage all season long. Consider its clean strappy foliage as a texture shift in the shade garden and the violet-blue flowers as the bonus!
For those with exceptional imagination consider this: the petite clusters of sleepy 1” violet-blue flowers have soft feathery puffs in the center of each flower which could function as an easy to reach feather duster for our magical woodland fairies that work so hard to keep the forest tidy when we are not watching! (By the way they are my only approved forest cleaners as they know exactly how much to do)
(thank you to Scott Chitwood for the pretty image)
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