Bloom Color

Interesting Notes

T. ohiensis can be found in the prairies, wood margins, roadsides and meadows of the Eastern US, Massachusetts to Minnisota, Florida to Texas. The Cherokee used Spiderwort as an ingredient in several preparations for female and kidney problems. They used a tea for digestive problems and would rub crushed leaves on insect bites (stings). A root poultice was used for cancer. 2bnthewild.com

I am not sure why I feel compelled to make excuses for some of the plants I describe, especially those with vaguely unsettling names that I worry might rebuff rather than entice you. I suppose I want you to love them as I do - all their idiosyncracies included - with an eye unbiased by name or reputation. Spiderwort is one of those words that wriggles and resonates from the depths of the unconscious with hints of dark basements and foul witches' brew. However, in reality, nothing about these dayflowers suggests anything sinister, and my best guess is that the name referrs to the delicate weblike filaments that decorate the anthers of each 3-petalled flower like a feather boa in miniature. The lightly fragrant flowers pop out one or two at a time from the folds of a leaflike bract. They open broad and flat in the heat of the day, then wither and curl under to be replaced the next morning by a new batch of blooms. The foliage of spiderworts looks very similar to a daylily's, especially when it is first emerging. (I remember confusing the two on tests in my perennial class in college.) The basal fans elongate in flowering to become leafy stems with alternate foliage arranged like sweet corn and blossoms appearing out of the topmost bract leaves. Bill Cullina

Growing and Maintenance Tips

Prefers moist to dry, well-drained, sandy, acidic soils in full to partial sun. Propagate by seed, cuttings or division. Deadhead to prolong season and cut foliage back after flowering. Best used as a border perennial, in open meadows and rock gardens.