Tradescantia- The Genius of Genus- There are large, small, sun / shade, tropical, pereinnal and annuals, pink, white, blue, purple, violet and rose in the spiderwort family!There is also a wide variety in foliage, different colors, varigation, fuzzy and shinny leaves as well!
We decided to go ahead an have an on air chat about last week's Plant Of The Week, Zigzag Spiderwort because there was some technical difficulties last week with calling into the station.
Adaptable for sure- this group of day flowers can be controlled by simply removing the clusters of spent flowers. When there is no more new flowers opening, simply remove the whole stem close to the crown at the base of the plant, leaving the rest of the foliage intact.
Be careful to note when your flowers are open. Because these plants are light and day sensitive so there are times when the flowers are closed but the cluster is not finished blooming yet. Wait till the time you know when you usually have flowers open and watch for a few days, if no open flowers are visable for a few days- it is probably finished and time to remove the finished flowers.
Some members of this group get very worn looking foliage after they have finished blooming. Best remedy is to trim all the foliage close to the base and let the whole plant resprount. By fall there is all new growth evident looking fresh and ready to be noticed!
If you mass plant any member of this genus and do not control reseeding- you may have more area dedicated to this genus than you planned. It has been my expereince that removeal of seedling plants in the spring is not difficult but time comsuming when there is much else to do. I do not recomend pre-emergents as they will prevent germination of any seeds from any plants. I recomend "hands-on" managment! To be energy efficient- I remove the problem before it is a problem by planning a trim back during the season.
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