Prairie Spiderwort
Tradescantia occidentalisPrairie Spiderwort is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1.5–3 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms pink and purple in Jun–Jul. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for bees.
Will it grow in your yard?
Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Prairie Spiderwort against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.
The facts
5 sources- Type
- Perennial wildflower
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Low
- Height
- 1.5–3 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft
- Bloom
- Jun–Jul · pink, purple
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Soil
- Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, dry, granitic, limestone, rocky, sand, well drained
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it
- Wildlife
- Supports bees
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
102 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.