If grown in containers to hold indoors over the winter or as houseplants, reduce watering during the winter and don’t fertilize until new growth starts in spring. Cut plants back after flowering to prevent them from getting spindly. Plants are drought tolerant and thrive on neglect, but also tolerate frequent watering. Pinch the plants to promote more compact growth. Grow purple heart in full sun for best color development plants growing in shade tend more to green than purple. Other suggestions for harmonious combinations with pink or purple-flowered plants include four o’clocks ( Mirabilis jalapa), lantana, scaveola, vinca ( Catharantheus roseus) and Mexican petunia ( Ruellia brittonia). Or combine it with pink or lavender verbena, coral-colored scarlet sage ( Salvia coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’) or pink petunias. Try using it in a container with ‘Marguerite’ ornamental sweet potato, golden creeping Jenny ( Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ or other varieties) or light green asparagus fern. Purple heart combined with asparagus fern, pink verbena and other flowers. Pair it with complementary colors for bold combinations – chartreuse coleus, orange marigolds or red begonias. The purple leaves are a nice contrast to gold, chartreuse, or variegated foliage, and a great complement to pink, light purple, or burgundy blossoms on other plants. They are best used in masses for in-ground plantings and will spread relatively quickly. Purple heart can be used as a ground cover, cascading in baskets, as a trailer in mixed containers or as a houseplant. Purple heart makes a good container plant. These ½” wide blooms have three petals typical of this genus. The rambling plants get about a foot high but can spread much wider.įrom midsummer through fall, and sporadically at other times, relatively inconspicuous pink or pale purple flowers with bright yellow stamens are produced at the ends of the stems. In colder areas it will die back to the ground in winter, but comes back from the roots in spring. The stems are quite fragile, and break off easily if brushed or kicked too hard. The fleshy leaves are covered with pale hairs and form a sheath around the stem. The small, pale purple flowers are borne on the ends of the stems.ĭark purple, lance-shaped leaves up to 7” long are produced alternately on fleshy stems. purpurea is still often used.Ĭommonly called purple heart or purple heart wandering jew (and occasionally “Moses in the Basket,” although this usually refers to a different species) this herbaceous plant in the Commelinaceae (spiderwort family) is a low-growing trailer that is hardy in zones 7-10, but is easily grown as an annual or houseplant in colder climates. Hunt of the Royal Botanic Garden Kew in 1975. Originally named Setcreasea pallida by Joseph Nelson Rose in 1911, it was reclassified in the genus Tradescantia by D.R. Tradescantia pallida is a tender evergreen perennial native to northeast Mexico (from Tamaulipas to Yucatan) grown as an ornamental for its striking purple foliage. Purple Heart ( Tradescantia pallida) used as a bedding plant at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
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