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The Spider-Wort

Tradescantia virginica.

IT has many times occurred to us, and perhaps to others, that this plant is unworthy of the name it bears. When we reflect upon the matter, however, we have to endure the conviction that we have gravely erred; and we feel bound to invite those who have shared with us the doubt to share the conviction also. The general tone of the common spider-wort is admirably represented in the accompanying figure, which presents a somewhat weedy plant possessed of exquisite beauty of form and colour. If you object to the word "weedy" you may, if you please, say rustic or aesthetic; still we shall be inclined to call the spider-wort weedy, and the place we assign it is the mixed border, where large tufts of some half-dozen varieties have for many years past delighted us all the summer long. If you should think that a "weedy" plant cannot delight the eye, you would alter your opinion could you see, as we have often seen, meadows enclosed with stone walls and entirely occupied with the rosy flowers of the ragged robin, which is a weed of weeds, and in its common weedy form unfit for any garden. The "hay fields" between Buxton and Leek are in many instances so richly clothed with ragged robin (Lychnis flos cuculi), that the rosy flowers seem to fill the meadows, just as in some parts of Sussex, especially near the coast, the snow-white flowers of the bladder campion (Lychnis vespertina) appear to occupy the entire space. The common spider-wort is perfectly hardy, and is a good London plant, as damp soil and a certain degree of confinement does not in any serious degree impair its beauty. On our heavy clay land it attains to a peculiarly fine growth, and makes amends for the failure of many a good thing for which our clay is not good food. There are about a dozen varieties in cultivation, and they are all worth having for the planting of a mixed border; indeed, the mixed-border man should secure all that are at his command, for in this class of plants minute differences are of importance, and the named varieties are for the most part sufficiently distinct. The flowers are really beautiful, more particularly the white variety, with its stamens delicately dressed with a violet fringe. The genus is named after John Tradescant, the "mighty Dutchman," who, it appears, was not a Dutchman, although he may have enjoyed regard as such in a day when the Low Countries were looked up to by the students of botany and horticulture. John Tradescant travelled much, and had opportunities of exploring the northern shores of Africa and the islands of the Mediterranean. We catch him in a comfortable place when we find him appointed gardener to King Charles I., in the year 1629; Tradescant's garden being then in Lambeth, and the king's garden a place of smallest import, for in that year his Majesty dissolved the Parliament and tried the experiment of governing without one. Tradescant's son made a voyage to Virginia, and in returning brought home many strange plants. Thus was formed the nucleus of the curious collection which afterwards was known as "Tradescant's Ark," an account of which was published in the "Museum Tradescantianum," 1656. To this volume were prefixed portraits of the father and son, engraved by Hollar. To the father John, succeeded the son John, who bequeathed the museum to Elias Ashmole, so that it became ultimately a part of the celebrated Ashmolean Museum. In this museum were "two feathers of the phoenix tayle," which of course makes an end of all questions as to the reality of the phoenix. The son died in 1662, and a curious monument in memory of the family was erected by his widow in Lambeth churchyard. An interesting account of the Tradescantian garden was drawn up in 1749 by Sir William Watson, and printed in "Philosophical Transactions," vol. xlvi. Returning to our plant, we must confess to ignorance of what is termed its "life-history," and on one point our ignorance is now brought home to us. We have never looked for seed on our spider-worts, and we have no recollection of having seen seeds offered for sale, and we really cannot say if it produces seed in this country. However, this is of no great consequence, because the plant can be divided ad infinitum, and it is merely a question of time when a stock is required. To enjoy them, indeed, they should be left alone for several years to form large tufts; but to increase them, it is only necessary to lift them in the spring and divide the roots and plant again. But this must be done with care, and it may sometimes be advisable to plant the pieces in a bed of sandy soil, or even to pot them and give them careful culture for one year, and then plant them out to make handsome specimens. We have spoken of ours as thriving on a heavy soil, but a light sandy soil is much better adapted for this plant, and a spacious rockery is the very best place on which the several varieties will most effectually display their beauties. The double-flowering spider-wort is preferred by many to the single, because of its rosette-shaped flowers. It is a good thing to supplement but not to supersede the single flowers. It is admirably portrayed in the initial and tailpiece.