Can anyone id this plant?

16 years ago

I have just bought my first house and the gardens are a little neglected in places with weeds and overgrowth in areas. The previous owner was only there a couple of years but owner before that LOVED her garden and the perennials are all hers.

Anyway the whole gardening thing is new to me. I am falling hard though. I am probably making tons of mistakes as i am learning. This forum is great .

I am wondering if anyone could help me figure out what this plant is. It seems to have taken over in a couple spots and I think I am going to need to get rid of it. the roots are insane though. They look like a mess of worms and go deep and are very clingy. I don't know how to post a picture here but I have a link to the photos of the plant. Someone suggested it could be chives gone to seed and someone else suggested a lily of some sort. Any ideas?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shellsinmypocket/712155606/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shellsinmypocket/712155590/in/photostream/

Comments (3)

marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
16 years ago
Looks a bit like tradescantia to me.
Laurie_z3_MB
16 years ago
Yep, that's tradescantia or spiderwort all right. I guess it's a plant that you may want to just devote an area alone to, as it may choke out other plants.

Welcome to the forum too. There's lots of information here for anybody starting out in gardening. Don't hesitate to ask questions, as we were all beginner gardeners at some time.;^)

Laurie
Related Professionals
Carlisle Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Deer Park Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · River Forest Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Bound Brook Landscape Contractors · Burlington Landscape Contractors · Centereach Landscape Contractors · Garland Landscape Contractors · Hicksville Landscape Contractors · Tavares Landscape Contractors · Berkeley Window Contractors · Deltona Window Contractors · Lakewood Window Contractors · Morton Grove Window Contractors · Northbridge Window Contractors · Sacramento Window Contractors
valleyrimgirl
16 years ago
I also have the spiderwort, 4 different colors, a white, the zwanesburg blue, a pink and a purple (just like yours). I have not found that they are invasive in any manner in my yard. Yes, the purple and pink have spread but not taken over just an individual plant here and a plant there but the white and blue have not. I really enjoy its many little flowers.

The white spiderwort...

{{gwi:702406}}

The zwanesburg blue was and still is mixed up with Grandma Jean Daylily just like it was when a friend of mine sold the daylily to me. They are very happy together so I think that they may remain that way here.

Since they have taken over in your yard...yes, get rid of the majority of them. Wonder how many years they have been in the yard? Maybe your soil conditions are the exactly what they like.

Brenda