Spiderwort
Tradescantia virginiana
Also called Common spiderwort, Virginia spiderwort and Trinity flower
Garden plant · PerennialsEach flower lasts one morning and is gone by teatime, which is why a clump in full flower looks untouched every day. Shear the whole thing to the ground after the first flush and it does it again in September.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 8 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Sun or partial shade — it takes either
- Feed
- Not needed
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — an average winter RHS H4, to -10°C
- Size
- 0.5 m tall · 0.45 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Eastern North America
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsToxic to pets
Signs: irritation of the mouth and gut from the sap; a skin rash in people who cut it back bare-handed.
PeopleIrritates skin
HandlingTake care handling it
RHS category C — the sap is a skin allergen across the whole genus; gloves when cutting it back.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-08-05.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- By July the clump splays outward and the centre is bare ground. That is the cue to shear the whole thing to a hand's height; it regrows and flowers again.Flopping open in the middle · disorder
- Grassy tufts come up right through the neighbouring plants the following spring. Deadheading before the pods brown is the only thing that stops it.Seedlings everywhere · disorder