• Image of Tradescantia tharpii|Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC|JLBG

    Photo by JLBG taken at Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC

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Tradescantia tharpii

Tharp's Spiderwort

This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

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Item #: 10610

Zones: 4a to 8b, at least

Dormancy: Winter

Height: 8" tall

Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade

Origin: United States

Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)


Tradescantia tharpii is a little-known spiderwort named after the late Texas botanist Benjamin Tharp. His namesake hails from the hilly prairies and open woodlands in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The small, 8" tall x 1' wide, deciduous, hairy-leaved rosettes are topped, starting in late April (NC), with clusters of violet to violet-blue flowers. After flowering ceases in late May, we recommend cutting the plant to ground for a new round of flowers and foliage. Tradescantia tharpii typically goes dormant for us in late summer. Tradescantia tharpii has been a top performer in our garden without the weedy reseeding traits of many of its cousins. Tradescantia tharpii is a moist woodland native plant, but it has also performed well for us in the dry, sunny rock garden.