This is an annual frontyard image for me. I am not sure where the plant came from but originally it was the more typical blue/purple hue. A few years back this less pigmented individual showed up, was fruitful and multiplied The blue/purple variety still holds sway, but the paler variety are growing in numbers. I like either one (ok, I am partial to this one) as they are such prolific bloomers and have a long season. Hopefully Mary Beth doesn’t yank them all….they do tend to move into the space of others. OTOH, even when she pulls them, it only takes a tiny bit of root tip for a whole new colony to develop.
So here is 2014’s Tradescantia virginiana v.alba….I am not sold on the v.alba part, but some folks do list them so I’m game for now.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
I think I’d be happy to have these in the garden, Steve.
LikeLike
I am, Andrew. It’s Mary Beth who isn’t. If it is legal I could send you a few. 🙂
LikeLike
Can I smoke the leaves, Steve? 😉
LikeLike
I imagine you could, Andrew. No guarantees that you would receive a visit from the Cheshire Cat however. 🙂
LikeLike
Tradescantia are pretty flowers up close. I have some pink ones that I dug from the wild that bloom along the lane of my property. They are hugging the fence now as my neighbor mows that side of the lane next to her fence. I need to dig some of them and move the poor things to my yard before my neighbor totally destroys them. I have a few of the blue ones that do pretty good in semi shade.
They bloom in very early spring.
Your photo is quite beautiful. I’ve not seen a “cantia” that pretty.
LikeLike
Yours must be a different variety if they bloom in the early Spring…but then your Spring is always much earlier than ours. 🙂 I think that, should your neighbor mow ’em all down, they will still come back as the roots are very hardy…just a tiny piece will regenerate the whole bunch.
Thanks, Yvonne.
LikeLike
True they return but she mows them as they are blooming and I don’t get to enjoy the blooms. 🙂
LikeLike
Please, PLEASE do not dig up plants from the wild!!! A reputable grower can supply you with native plants.
LikeLike
Dear Ms Blue,
The plants that I dug were from property that was due for commercial development and soon to be covered in concrete. It was from a native prairie of 30 acres that is now covered in a huge Ford dealership AND solid concrete covered with new and used automobiles.
Please do not assume that because something is dug from the wild that it is being illegally or unethically removed by someone who does not know what they are doing. I’ve been actively involved in conservation and prairie restoration for more thann 50 years.
Are you working to conserve any rare plants in your area? Do you have a butterfly garden to help the Monarch butterfly?
Last but not least I learned of a woman that was digging two species of milkweed plants from her pasture. She did not want the milkweed for she believes it to be harmful to her cattle and horses. No amount of talk could change her mind. She began digging so she brought several people some of the plants that she dug. My friend was able to get 5 or more plants to grow and I saved 2 out of 5 that she had dug that did not have decent root systems.
Not wishing to sound like a crabby person I do beg to differ with your complaints directed to me. I’m well aware of what is endangered and what is a threatened species. Also the Spiderwort in my area is not in either category.
To finish this rebuttal I do not idly dig from the wild unless the plant is due to be destroyed from any given area.
Regards, yvonne
LikeLike
I’m with you in treasuring the white variants. They’re not common in the spiderwort species we have in Austin, but I have occasionally seen some. In fact many flowers that are primarily purple seem to have white variants, and although I don’t know why that should be so, I’m glad that it is.
LikeLike
There must be something in purple genes that makes them have some pigment variation but, like you, I don’t know whether that is the case.
LikeLike
The coloring is so interesting, it would be interesting to see how the color changes over the years.
LikeLike
In our patch, I have seen some years when they are whiter and some when they are more tinted than this year’s crop.
LikeLike
Beautiful image !!
LikeLike
Thanks, Bernie.
LikeLike
You capture the very best of nature, Steve. What a perfect image. Thank you 😀
LikeLike
Thank you, Lottie. 🙂 I try. 🙂
LikeLike