That plant probally needs bright but indirect light to bloom

Hey TG, are you referring to the spathacea? That's what I think. When I got it last spring I put it in a ton of sun, it burned. I backed off a bit, to morning-only, thinking now that it was used to more sun the new leaves would be OK but it was still burning and losing its' pretty colors. In total shade (but very bright, being on south-facing porch,) it's beautifully colored, but of course I'd like to see those flowers. Under a tree it would get dappled light, which would be a LOT more sun but hopefully not enough at any particular moment or on any one leaf for burning. It's really what most understory plants need to be at their peak.

I've repotted the sillamontana pictured above to a hanging basket, as the "mama." Soon I'll break off some pieces to share with other pots, the funnest part of these creeping Trads, to me. This one is said to be the most xeric of the genus, will be a test of the "well drained" factor, mixing it with other plants.

I've prodded you about this Tradescantia hobby -- one of the reasons I delurked -- because I have the fever, too! If I have time, I'll formulate a post with pics tomorrow. I don't have sillamontana (YET, dangit), but I have its alleged hybrid with pallida. It's almost as fuzzy as sillamontana, yet takes a purple color from pallida. It branches more readily than pallida, which it supposedly takes from its sillamontana parent, but I wouldn't know (YET!).

With the hybrid, oh boy. I don't think it CAN flower. It's been trying since late last fall; in fact, I think it believes it IS flowering. It creates the same "cups" that pallida does, but inside they're entirely . . . fuzzy. There will be a near-daily spot of vague pink goo in the "cups," as if a flower is "done," but I never see anything close to an actual flower.

Anyway, it did this in much less than full sun -- the overhang of a porch on the north side of a two-story complex. It's continued the behavior this winter, when set 8"-12" back from an unobstructed south window.

So, to make a long story longer, if I had to take a wild guess based on their hybrid, it would be that sillamontana will bloom in less sun than pallida.

I'm attaching a photo of it. It's:

A) greener, less purple, than it really looks, probably due to taking photos with a cheap webcam and

B) entirely posed. The philo, pothos, and spath don't actually live there; they're in lower light.

But you can see the flower "cups" I speak of; that's really all they do, buds and then fuzz-coated goo. Hooray, hybrid. But, they do it exuberantly it in relatively low light, compared to the pallida parent.

Whoa, thanks for letting me get excited about the genus. I'll post more verbose crap about my collection soon. LOL. ;D

This post was edited by ozarkia on Fri, Apr 12, 13 at 1:24

Well if it wasn't for the weirdness of the flowers you're getting, I'd say that's a 'Red Hill' from Exotic Angel. NTP discussion about it. Your plant looks a little "fatter" in general though, if that makes sense. Where did you get that one?

Look forward to more Trad babbles!! Your plants look amazing!

Okay, dug through my bookmarks. It's actually Tradescantia pallida X sillamontana 'Sierra Storm'â¢. That's not where I got it from -- I got cuttings from an internet person who had it as NOID -- but I would put money on that being its ID.

'Red Hill' is cool, though. :D

Well, that does look like a match. Wish foliage plants got the same fru-fru attention - like test trials and magazine articles - as something like a "stunning new Echinacea" or "improved daylily" (that always looks just like all of the others to me.) Not much info out there about your plant or mine. I'll take a new Trad over a new fru-fru perennial any day and twice on Sunday!

This 'Red Hill' plant is getting a great purple stripe mid-leaf from being in a ton of sun. I snapped the taller pieces off to share this with other pots.

purpleinopp,
I noticed on my plants that there is always one stem different than the rest. I cut it off and plant it apart and it keeps its new color. Do you experence the same?
Stush
PS These are my wife's plants.

Wow, awesome! I start to wonder if the whole genus will get moved to the Chamaeleonidae family . . .

I have a crazy idea about T. zebrina. I'd like to borrow or otherwise procure a light meter, and photograph it growing in different levels. Because it adjusts so quickly, and is so readily available, then I think one could grow it, line its appearance up with photos on a chart, and estimate the light levels pretty accurately (and then place other, pickier plants where appropriate). A poor man's light meter. Haha. I kind of do this anyway -- I just think it'd be fun to systematize it and share it.

Oh I love tradescantias! I really want T. fluminensis variegata. Sigh! I just put a few stars in my hanging baskets outside and hope for great things this year lol!

No doubt! These things grow so fast, I'm already taking new cuttings from the cuttings I took earlier in the year. Especially the fluminensis. Love how the flowers don't even stop when pieces are cut. I need some variegated too! I only ever see a hanging basket of it when I'm flat broke.

Clicked submit too soon...

Ozarkia I think that's a really cool idea but the only caveat I would have is that I'm not convinced all T. zebrina area exactly the same. If you need some material to work with, I'd be happy to donate to the cause!! I'm far too disorganized to do this but it sounds fascinating and very possibly useful indeed!

This year I'm trying to pay more attention to what exposure causes blooms on T. zebrina.

This post was edited by purpleinopp on Sun, May 12, 13 at 9:03

They never even have it for sale here, so you're ahead! I put some pics of my baskets up in the puttering thread in the balcony forum. We'll see if they take off. I am hoping to get some blooms. Incidentally, the fuzzy one you sent me bloomed while it was inside!

Stush, sorry I forgot to comment on your question before. No, I haven't seen any of my Trads do that. (Until today, but more about that below...) Please show us a pic?! And please ask your awesome wife for her secret - LOL!

Julianna, that's the red hill one I would think. Flowers are small, but abundant, and don't stop if it takes root easily. If there's struggle, the buds might dry up.

Got turned around this morning in the next town over trying to visit a garden center I just heard of recently and ended up at one I didn't know existed yet at all. Never did find the first one, but was thrilled with what they had at the 2nd one. A lot of nursery-grown plants and a lot of props too, especially house-type plants.

Found variegated T. fluminensis, a nice pot of 2 good-sized chunks that was apparently $1. (I got 4 things for $21, one was $17.) I didn't compute that until I was driving away, too busy chattin, if you can possibly imagine that. I would have gotten 4 more pots, $5 for *a* plant is quite reasonable to me. In one pot, (once at home,) that's what it would have been... right?

There were at least 50 pots, but this was the only one with a plain white stem. Fascinating. Also saw a shrub I want for my Mom for her birthday in a few weeks. Obviously I'll have to go back.

Oh awesome! I love it! They are so beautiful and that is an excellent price!

Me too! ...and not sure after more thought which one you're referring to by fuzzy? Can't remember if we traded before I got T. sillamontana in New Orleans or not... any time you want to trade again, LMK! I'll get more of this variegated very soon, providing I go back to that store soon enough, before the one I got goes crazy anyway. A really fast-growing plant if it's like the plain green one.

Can't wait to see if it'll make some flowers. Going to snap the 3 longest tips today and add them to a green'n'white pot I made recently. (Dief, Callisia repens, Callisia fragrans, white wax Begonias, T. fluminensis.) It's exactly what was missing!

Seven Trads doesn't feel like enough, but I don't know what else I'm missing besides the one Ozarkia has.

Who's got some Trads (whether they're already mentioned or not?) This thread needs more pics!

Here is a link that might be useful: T. zebrina blooms discussion

We traded before that, so it was whichever one you had before! I am thinking a trade in the fall? It's already beginning to be baking here in the low 90s sometimes :(

I;ll go check out that other discussion. This week I'm at my parents' house so I'll be a bit awol :(

Yeah, that's probably best. Been about 90 every day for over a week here, of course it's only going to get hotter!

Have fun with tha' folks!

T. sillamontana (first plant pictured here) after a couple months in more sun.

Love it! Look at how awesome!

Love the way these leaves look like there's glitter inside them (T. zebrina.)

I like that too. The ones I put outside before I left are doing well. I am hoping to get them to spill over more so I can see them better!

Hey Purp,

That last green & white one was lovely, I remember growing that years ago & loving it.

Can I cheat? Doesn't this look like it should belong here?

{{gwi:83612}}

It doesn't, but almost should: Crassula marginata variegata, a recent new purchase.

{{gwi:83613}}

Absolutely! That's awesome, I love the pinkish hue. You're right, and I've got a couple of these Crassulas that resemble Trads too.

C. marginalis rubra 'Variegata' 'Calico Kitten'
(Could there be any MORE to the label on this plant??!)

{{gwi:83614}}

{{gwi:83615}}

C. 'Caput Minima'

{{gwi:83616}}

{{gwi:83617}}

{{gwi:83618}}

Then there's the Callisias and Gibasis geniculata...!!

T. sillamontana made a flower back on the 7th I think, but I didn't get the pic on here before going on vacation. Haven't seen another one yet. What other Trads are blooming out there?

Believe it or not, i dug up some dayflowers (Commelina communis) to put on my balcony and those are my bloomers at the moment :) Not the same genus, but it is the same family!

Yes, those are awesome, so very blue. All of the dayflowers get called C. communis although many are actually native, might have C. erecta where you are. Do you have a pic? Every time I find some, it doesn't stay alive when I bring it home.

I'll have to get a photo. I did look though, and you are right- -I think it's C. erecta! It looked very different from the Asiatic one, and I had just thought it was perhaps a variation.

This is a much better pic of T. sillamontana flower. Where's that pic, J?

I *will* wake up early enough with enough time to go take pictures of it some day before we all die! LOL!

Love that positive attitude! Cheering you on!

Now to find T. navicularis...

Can't imagine how much trouble I'd get into if I started buying plants in the mail. I'm passively looking for it (T. navicularis) in trade.

...and cousins, such as the various...

Commelina is such a mysterious genus that Wiki doesn't have a list of species. USDA plants database has 12. I would like to have all of the natives.

Callisia is mysterious as well, with no count of known species on Wiki, but a list of 12. I would like to have, or at least see, all of those.

This post was edited by purpleinopp on Fri, Jul 19, 13 at 12:27

Oh plants by mail is dangerous. You find out that shipping kills your budget faster than the plants!

Hey Purp,

I hope you know Wiki (as you call it) is not a reliable source of info. as it can be edited by absolutely anyone. Is that really the kind of info you wish to gather?

Gorgeous plant indeed, However it's a shame it's not called a WANDERING jew.

As a Jew myself, I find it quite the offensive moniker; I've yet to meet a striped jew in all my years thus far.

Hey, PG, you're not trying to start an argument, right? Not sure from your tone. I'll assume not, I know you spend lots of time trying to be helpful. Your mention of the word Jew is the first in this discussion, and I have no idea what you meant, and don't want to.

I wish to gather whatever info is out there, Wiki being a basic resource for some kinds of info. Like you said, if someone finds it incorrect, edit it. If anyone disagrees with what was said that I quoted, I'd like to discuss it, so threw it out there. I would love to find better lists of these genuses, Tradescantia, Commelina, Callisia. Have you one to share?

I don't have a better list, sorry I don't look up those kinds of things. But I tend to look towards agricultural or university sites for some of those things.

I'm not trying to start any argument (gee, I did think you 'knew' me better than that), nothing I'd ever do deliberately anyway.

Did you not read the link you provided to that striped plant selling at Ebay? The Seller is calling it a striped jew, that's what I'm not loving.

"LOOK...very unusual striped jew"

is the title of the link to EBay ad you provided, a direct quote.

I don't have a better list, sorry I don't look up those kinds of things. But I tend to look towards agricultural or university sites for some of those things.

I'm not trying to start any argument (gee, I did think you 'knew' me better than that), nothing I'd ever do deliberately anyway.

Did you not read the link you provided to that striped plant selling at Ebay? The Seller is calling it a striped jew, that's what I'm not loving.

"LOOK...very unusual striped jew"

is the title of the link to EBay ad you provided, a direct quote.

Sorry folks, no idea what's going on here -- I posted this at dinnertime last night. I have NOT posted this explanation of my prior comment a 2nd time this morning.

How confusing.

There are some strange things going on with GW, including disappearing comments. The glitch with double posts seems to have something to do with non-computer devices, like the sideways pics from iphones. I think GW is aware of both. I also think that on computers, people sometimes double-click buttons. (My Dad could not be convinced some things only need to be clicked once.) Also, GW connects to sooooo many spy-on-you things that take forever to connect, I think sometimes people think they didn't really click the first time, and click again. However many times you can click submit before it finally changes to "your message has been posted" is how many times it will show up in the thread. Fun to play with on test forum, but no doubt distracting in convos.

PG, you're absolutely right about other types of sites as more reliable resources. If any of them had an interest in arcane ground-cover type tropical plants, or even such natives, that would be great. I can't find any such thing besides how to kill them in my lawn or keep them out of my crop.

I'd contact you privately, but that's disabled. Just before reading the Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 17:07 comment, I was reading something else, I didn't like it, I think you will know what I mean, and that was on my mind when I replied.

I didn't notice enough to remember what the web page with the pic of the mystery plant said, just that it didn't contain the botanical epithet. Your comment makes much more sense now, and I wish that page would have been worded differently also. But still seems out of place. I'm sorry you found it offensive but sure you know I have no idea who it belongs to, nor the person who shared the pic with me. Sharing it was not meant to offend anyone, and sure you also know that's the most common common name (partially, as you said) for plants of this type. Sending a note to the person who wrote the page would have sent your comments in what I consider a more appropriate direction. Argument was the wrong word, unnecessarily inflammatory would have been a more accurate interpretation of my take on it.

I sincerely apologize that you were offended, and to anyone else who might have also been. I am removing the link.

Certainly not offended w/ you Purp, absolutely not your doing. Also, I'm pretty long-fused abt things like that, but really, the person posting that EBay page should think more first.

I've never partaken in EBay, so offhand it's not obvious to me that I could contact the Ebay Ad poster directly. Anyway...

GREAT lookin' plant tho'. If I ever saw that in person, it'd definitely be a cart jumper in my book.

I would have said don't take down the ad on my account, it's not your ad, or your responsibility, tho' I'm not sure how you can't tell who sent it to you.

First I've known the GW EM facility is disabled; when I just now checked my Member Page the entire EM connection was removed from my Member Page. I hope to contact GW later & ask that it be restored.

Anyway, thanks for understanding & caring to do so.

(PG) Karen

Thank you! Likewise. You know I highly value your input, as a person, and as a plant-o-phile. Luckily neither of us are prone to nauseating emoticon abuse, so here's a rare wink ;)

So, you've inspired me to dig deeper, or do my own digging, as the case may be... The missing link would be a site with pics of all and proper botanical epithets. I don't know how else to research besides looking for reliable pics on USDA plants site, and occasionally a botanical garden will have an interesting one, but...

Tradescantia...

Need good luck finding pics of the 404 recorded species (including repeats) at Kew, (confusing, (like USDA,) listing some species twice for some reason.) Trads are frustrating to research because so many end up just looking like spiderwort.

USDA (only good for basic info and sometimes pics on plants within the US) plants has 88 records on Tradescantia. Can't find any that I don't already have, or aren't spiderworts.

Callisia...
Kew, there's 35 without repeats, some are bold, I've never understood why. Anyway, great for lists, but no pics.

USDA plants lists 8.

Commelina...
688 Kew, 51 USDA.

It's no wonder sometimes plants go unID'd since pics of most of the species are nonexistent, or found on something like Flickr, so who can judge the veracity of the name given.

I wonder if there are any 'societies' for these kinds of plants, can't find such. (Creeper society?)

Something tells me if anyone would know, it'd be Rhizo, who I believe has had formal horticultural/botanical education etc.

Following up on the severed EMail link. I contacted GW about it, they suggested I go check my Member Page to see that the box was checked to allow EM from other GW members (I hadn't had it checked before). Once I checked & selected it, it appears my EM link is now back on my Member Page.

Still can't see where to edit my Trade Area though.

Could someone try to EM me pls. through that Facility to see if it's working? TIA

(PG) Karen

PS to Purple, thanks for your kind words above.

Hey Purple-- I did it! here is is:

and some foliage

Those are so pretty! No idea how to differentiate it between C. communis or C. erecta, will poke around and see what I can find. That inspires me to go to our friend's lake house to get more, this time I'd be ready with some water and something to put it in.