Amethyst Kiss is one of the longest-blooming spiderworts around, opening large clusters of sizable periwinkle-blue flowers from early summer into fall, long after other spiderworts have stopped. Bright yellow-tipped stamens sparkle at the center of each bloom.
It forms a clump of arching, grassy leaves about 12 to 18 inches tall and adapts to sun or shade. Use it in borders, rain gardens, woodland edges and native plantings.
What it looks like
Three-petaled, triangular flowers 1.5 to 2 inches across in periwinkle blue, with a tuft of fuzzy blue filaments and bright yellow-tipped stamens at the center, opening from dense clusters of buds at the stem tips. Each flower lasts a day but many open in succession. Leaves are long, narrow, grass-like and arching, medium green, 8 to 12 inches long, folding along the midrib. The plant is a clump 12 to 18 inches tall and wide. At peak it looks like a fountain of green blades dotted with blue triangles.
Growing it with lavender
Spiderwort prefers richer, moister soil than lavender, so plant it in a rain garden, near a downspout or in a partly shaded border rather than in the dry lavender bed.
Care
Grow in full sun to shade in average to fertile soil with regular moisture; it tolerates wet spots. Hardy in zones 3-9; if the foliage flops or looks tired in midsummer, cut it back by half to get fresh leaves and more flowers.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Tradescantia
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Flower color: Periwinkle blue with yellow stamens
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Foliage: Medium green
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Growth habit: Clump of arching, grass-like leaves
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Mature size: 12–18 in tall × 12–18 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade, full shade
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Bloom start: Early-June
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Peak bloom: Late-June
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
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