Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) in Indiana Dunes

The genus Tradescantia is named for John Tradescant the Elder, who was an English gardener and plant collector.  Two of the most often seen species in the eastern United States are Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio Spiderwort) and Tradescantia virginiana (Virginia Spiderwort).  Examples of the latter were collected and taken to England in the 1600s, where they became a common garden flower.  Their popular name, Spiderwort, probably came from either their long, leg-like leaves or the web-like secretions that ooze from their cut stems.    

Spiderworts are easy to grow, but they tend to die out in mid-summer in my Mid Atlantic garden.  They re-bloom in the fall; then die back in winter.  The variety I grow there is Tradescantia Blue Stone, a Spiderwort cultivar.  To learn more about Tradescantia and its cultivars, please read this nine page pdf from the Chicago Botanic Garden.