This is wild!

Side view.

The other one you saw was probably T. pallida (formerly Setcreasea) if it had purple leaves. If it was more like a tall grass with flowers at the top, that was something like T. virginiana or T. ohiensis.

You know what's funny? This is growing in a topsy turvy tomato planter that never grew a tomato, just killed the plants. They should sell them as Tradescantia planters. It's growing out of the top, not the bottom, with Tahitian bridal veil (Gibasis geniculata.)

Gorgeous!! I had one many years ago, I dont think it ever bloomed

Such a pretty color.

These tiny flowers are my favorite of this whole growing year! There are MANY pots with this plant in it, and some in the ground, but only this one is blooming. I don't even remember what kind of soil I stuffed in there 5 years ago, and it hasn't been changed. Last spring, I was so disgusted with trying to grow tomatoes in this thing, I just stuffed the top full of cuttings, which took off and came back on their own this year, both plants. So there's got to be better advice about getting this plant to bloom than "buy a topsy turvy, fail for 3 years to grow tomatoes in it, then add cuttings the 4th year so they can overwinter and flower the following fall."

What??! I just don't get it. Why is this plant breaking some rules (old soil, never dries out, never fertilized?)

It must be all those decomposed tomato roots....

Many plants will flower when they're under stress. It's a survival technique.

Thanks for the inputs!

When I pulled the tomato plant skeletons out, (the last attempt was removed around June of '10,) there were hardly any roots, so don't think that's a factor after so much time has passed.

Don't think this plant is under stress. It's the best-looking of MANY specimens throughout the yard, the only one never loses leaves, and has no oedema spots or brown tips.

Morning...Purple, what a beautiful Tradescantia..
Is your plant the one known as Wandering Jew?

I've never seen one so Purple, Purple. :)

The little flowers are gorgeous. They're truly purple.

Looks great w/TBV. Is TBV surrounding/circling the entire Tradescantia?

Awesome!
I've only seen one Wandering Jew bloom, too...but my pic isn't as nice as yours ;-)

Old soil, never fertlized, works a treat! I think thats why my xmas cactus has loads of buds, it hasn't had a repot in ages! Then I fed it the other day, Im sure more flower buds popped out!

super pretty. thanks for sharing the purple pics, purple!

-rachel

Larry, that's a good way to induce stress blooms.
Probably not the best way of insuring the health of the plant, however.

Josh

Toni, I'm sure this is one of the plants people call wandering Jew. Yes, the two plants share the topsy turvy but it's such a tangle, I don't really know what's coming from where, it's all just coming out of the top. The TBV is sparse but lots of blooms at the ends.

LOL, greenlarry, another good point but no fertilizer has been put on this planter.

Greenman, that looks like the same plant, just a little less light. We may be onto something here. This topsy turvy is in dappled light after a brief bit of direct sun in the morning, with lots of shade during the heat of the day. The other pots that have it are in a lot more sun, especially mid-day.

Dappled light seemed to make a huge difference to Easter cactus, maybe the dappled light is it, or just less sun in general. As Toni mentioned, this plant has really purple leaves. The ones in more sun are more reddish.

Here's a piece of the same plant that's in almost total shade...

Purple,
that plant was growing in a greenhouse at a local nursery, blooming just before New Year's.
I, too, agree that they look their best if not in full sun. My own Wandering Jew, in full
sun, turns an intensely bright purple...but loses the distinct leaf-patterning.

I rooted a few cuttings in the container of my Blood Orange, watered and fertilized
once a week, and the growth was the most incredible I'd ever seen - thick stems, larger leaves,
and the stems branched out multiple times. Here is just one of those cuttings that I removed
to pot up for a friend.

Josh

That's a nice piece!

I think it's cool how different amounts of light can make it look like one has different plants.

Yes i know, Im green fingered but forgetful - i keep forgetting to feed!

Purple,
this is what my potted plant has looked like in full sun, June, after pruning with new growth.

Purple, I must have missed the post about sun.

Are you and Josh saying WJ is deep purple in shade and red in bright light?

I get confused with WJ names..it's labed both Tradescantia and Zebrina..

Yes! I have about 10 that look like that, except not pruned at the edges, and this one really good one. Well, not that the others aren't good, I just like the darker purple color better. No control over the sun out front though.

I went nuts hanging plants on the front porch this year. Next year I will do it again and there should be enough plant mass of this plant, chartreuse sweet potato vine, Coleus, Persian shield, Perilla, and Philodendron, Begonia, to branch out into more pots hanging from tree limbs, especially in areas visible from inside, looking out the windows. Also want to grow SPV up some tree trunks to see how high they can get in a summer. Just this morning my landlady said she'd like to have some to play with next spring, so I guess I haven't gotten too wild for her yet. Cool.

All of these are so very pretty~~ I'm green with envy. All my plants are still on the small side, but healthy, cept for my Wandering Jew~ Not doing well at all. But that is for another thread...

My Ma-ma spider plant tho!! WOW! Shoots coming up all over the place and flowers blooming on her! I am so glad you all hit me in the head about leaving her alone, she is much happier now.. and so am I.

A lot of my plants are doing well and growing, some are not growing so well. But someone said a while back, healthy is better than being big, So I wait for them to grow as long as they are healthy~~ like a good mom should do~ lol.

But these are so pretty and full~~ hope I can get there someday :)
Marjie

Purple - T pallida won't survive out in the garden here, so I think greenlarry was probably referring to the hardy perennial Tradescantia x andersoniana which grows happily outdoors.

Flora, interesting, maybe it's too moist while it's cold there? Definitely perennial here, a native according to USDA and RHS although I don't understand the H1, H2 zones on RHS site.

There are about 70 Tradescantias and I can't tell most of the grassy ones (which most of them are) apart.

Tradescantia x andersoniana W. Ludwig & Rohweder [ohiensis x (subasper x virginiana)]
(pasted from USDA site.)

Does this mean T. x andersonia is an offspring, (or apparently more accurately a group of offspring - from looking at RHS website,) with T. ohiensis and T. virgiana in its' lineage?

Oops, correction:

Definitely perennial here, and a native according to USDA. Indicated as perennial on RHS.

Hey, Toni!

The Wandering Jew plant in these pics is Tradescantia zebrina (full name).
In the shade, the purple is darker and the top of the leaf is more distinctly green/white.
In the sun, the purple is much brighter on top and bottom, almost a magenta-pink.

Of course, I never throw the plant into the sun directly. It takes weeks of acclimating.

Josh

Purple, that T. zebrina wouldnt be a perennial here! Our winters would see it off!

Larry, I was talking about T. pallida yesterday at 17:12, but both that and T. zebrina are hardy here.

Purple, what's the deep red/purple, erect plant in the white pot!! Now that IS colorful! WOW!

LOL, moving plants around..sounds like me when plants are brought back inside.

When plants are set outside in spring, I usually keep most in locations they were placed previous summers. Although a few, Adeniums for example need a much brighter location than they were placed the last two summers.

Thank God for poles w/hangers. Though we ended up placing bird feeders on three...can't deprieve the birds..or should they be called, squirrel feeders. lol..squirrels climb up poles, hang upsidedown like bats, stealing sunflower seed.
Brats!

Marjie..it's true..healthy is better than large. But, don't worry, in time, your plants will grow taller and wider.

Howdy Josh. Is WJ/T. zebrina, one of the hundreds of plants names were changed over the years?

In Purple's top two pics..her entire plant is deep purple. No silver or green.
So, you're saying, her WJ was kept in shade? How much shade are we talking? Total shade..Does this include indoor shade? Sorry for all the questions, but her plant is amazing.

I agree, placing such a tender tropical in direct sun, w/o acclimation, would scorch foliage. 'Scorch' isn't a very nice color. :)

Toni, that's a Begonia, 'Lucerne' as far as I can tell. ...and that's not technically a pot, it's a 5-gallon bucket. It's a big 'un. From what I've read, these Begonias are capable of making much taller canes. Should have enough material next year to experiment with some pieces in the ground.

USDA profile for this plant indicates these synonyms:
Tradescantia zebrina hort. ex Bosse
TRPE16 Tradescantia pendula (Schinz) D.R. Hunt
ZEPE2 Zebrina pendula Schinz
ZEPEQ Zebrina pendula Schinz var. quadrifolia L.H. Bailey

The first 4 pics I posted here are of the same plant that's blooming. It gets AM sun, then dappled, mostly shade after that.

On Oct 8, 12 at 11:48, I put a pic of a piece of the same plant in almost total shade.

In full sun, it does this:

Hi, Toni.
The name has changed at least once, but it's been Tradescantia zebrina as long as I've
been aware of the plant.

Toni, the green and the white striping are more pronounced in the shade.
The more sun, the more saturated and *bright* purple the leaves become.
I can still see the green and some striping on Purple's plant.

Josh