Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Concord Grape Spiderwort: Grape-Purple Blooms for Damp Corners
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Concord Grape spiderwort opens rich grape-purple, three-petaled flowers with a fuzzy purple tuft and bright sulfur-yellow stamens at the center. Each bloom lasts only a day, but the plant carries so many buds that flowering continues for up to eight weeks, and spent flowers drop cleanly without deadheading.
Its color is deeper and more purple than the many blue spiderworts, close kin to lavender's own shade. It just wants richer, moister soil than lavender, so it lives next door.
Concord Grape at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Tradescantia 'Concord Grape' |
| Flowers | Grape purple, about 1.5 inches wide, with yellow stamens |
| Foliage | Frosted blue-green, long, narrow and arching |
| Size | 15 to 24 inches tall, 18 to 36 inches wide |
| Bloom | Starts early June, peaks late June, continues for weeks |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 3 to 9 |
| Light | Full sun to shade |
| Deer | Moderately resistant |
A purple echo in a different spot
Concord Grape's flowers are a near match for deep purple lavenders, and they bloom over the same early-summer weeks. That makes it a lovely way to carry the lavender color into parts of the garden where lavender itself would fail: the damp strip along a downspout, a rain garden, the edge of a woodland or a border that gets afternoon shade.
Its arching, grassy, blue-green leaves form a fountain shape, so even out of bloom it adds texture. Plant it in drifts where you can see it from the lavender beds. The Companion Plant Planner helps you sort moist and dry areas.
Planting and care
- Planting: set the bare root plant at the same depth it grew, in loosened soil, and water well.
- Soil: average to fertile with regular moisture. It tolerates damp spots that would rot lavender.
- Light: anything from full sun to shade, with more watering needed in sun.
- Midsummer refresh: in hot, dry spells the foliage can yellow and flop. Cut the whole plant back by half for a fresh flush of leaves and often more flowers.
- Pests: few problems. Watch for slugs on young growth and leaf spot in dense, shaded clumps in long wet spells.
- Winter: fully hardy in Michigan. Cut the foliage to the ground in late fall or early spring.
Morning flowers
Spiderwort flowers open in the morning and fold up as the day heats, so the best show is with your morning coffee. Bees visit the bright yellow stamens. The flowers do not last when cut, so this is a garden plant rather than a vase plant, and it is not grown for eating.
About the bare root plant
Concord Grape is offered as a bare root plant, which establishes quickly in moist soil. See the product page for current availability.
Frequently asked questions
Can spiderwort grow in my lavender bed?
It would survive but sulk in lean, dry soil. It does far better in a moister bed nearby.
Why do the flowers close in the afternoon?
Each spiderwort flower lasts a single day, opening in the morning. New buds open the next day, for weeks.
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