Correctly identifying an unknown plant is a difficult task. Because of that, people often hope for easier ways to identify their plants. But there are no shortcuts to this process. The ID charts and AI apps people often turn to are unreliable and lead to misidentifications and misplaced confidence.
Articles
On the history and implications of the most controversial common name for tradescantia.
Repotting is an important part of long-term maintenance for any container plant. It’s also a stressful process for a plant to go through. So keeping container plants healthy means repotting when they need it, and only when they need it.
Learn about how I care for my outdoor tradescantias, including soil, watering, and other maintenance.
Find out how water-retentive live sphagnum moss turns out to be a perfect medium for growing these indoor succulents.
If you search online for information about variegated plants, you’ll find plenty of blog posts offering to explain how variegation works and describing two or three different types. I’ve read lots of those posts, both when I was first learning, and more recently when I’ve wanted to explain things to other people. But they’ve never […]
An FAQ about plant growth regulators (PGRs), covering how and why they are used, and what effects they have on plants.
Two Tradescantia zebrina naming mysteries, solved with one neat reclassification.
This question is surprisingly complex. Find out how many species and cultivars there are in the Tradescantia genus and the whole Commelinaceae family.
There are eighteen different named cultivars of Tradescantia zebrina. Distinguishing them can be tricky!