Scientific Name: Tradescantia occidentalis

Native to Alabama: No

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – James Garland Holmes
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• I am a vascular plant with no woody stems above ground, so I am herbaceous.
• I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
• I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
• I can grow 1 – 2 feet high and 1 – 3 feet wide.

• Dormant in winter.
• To promote a second bloom, cut back after first bloom.
• Cut back 8-12 inches from the ground to prevent re-seeding.
• Can become an aggressive grower; to avoid this, divide every three years.
• Can be propagated by seeds, division of the roots, or stem cuttings.

• When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots.
• Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
• Requires average amount of water.

Full Sun
(6+ hours of sun per day)

Part Sun/Shade
(2-6 hours of sun per day)

Wikimedia – Jean-pol GRANDMONT
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• All plants start life as a seed.
• The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots.
• The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground.
• After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers.
• After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed.
• When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again.
• Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.