Tradescantia 'Red Cloud'

A native North American wildflower, this spiderwort has a long bloom season. The 1- to 2-inch, three-petaled, rose-purple blooms, accented with yellow stamens, are borne in clusters on stiff stems. Although the flowers appear for only one day, each cluster contains numerous buds that open in succession and heavily dot the rounded mound of arching, iris-like leaves for up to 8 weeks, keeping the butterflies and bees coming.

This easy-care plant is self-cleaning, so deadheading is unnecessary, but it will encourage reblooming. Almost any location will do, sunny or shady, as long as there is adequate and consistent moisture. It fits nicely in a container but is shown to best effect when planted en masse, especially in a border or a mixed bed with companion plants, such as bergenia, hibiscus, hemerocallis (daylily), ligularia (leopard plant).