Wandering Jew - Tradescantia Zebrina (Silver)

Commonly known as Wandering Jew - Tradescantia Zebrina have been a popular houseplant for ages adorning as hanging basket plant where it has a lovely cascading effect of foliage colored plant - this one has a lovely striped leaved feature which appears to have a iridescent features.

There are few different varieties of this particular type which I had noticed and found. The one that I'm holding turns out to be in pale green when in shade but turns brilliant red (like the top pic) when exposed in good bright light (or sun)

The second one (as in comparison)
Appears to be in a reverse tones from the first one.
I doubt they are specified and identified and therefore - I'm just calling them as (Silver) for my ID.

The characteristics of this particular one is that it appears to be brilliant when planted in shade incomparison the red counterpart where that one fades into pale green and jaded tones.

(You can note the difference from the first picture above)

These are ideal for shaded garden areas where colors and vibrant tones are lacking. These fulfill those areas very well without much fuss as they are hardy plant. One thing is to be considered is that they do then to have invasive behavior where they would move out from the designated planted area if planted on ground - and therefore may need constant pruning and replanting to keep them compact and to give that effective visual display.

Also they are great together as companion plant - this one is growing together with Chrysothemis pulchella (also known as sunset bells, black flamingo or copper leaf plant)

Please click on the Link below for the Main Page
For other basic information of plant Care and Different Types of Tradescantia Species:
Different Types of Tradescantia Species

Tropical Vertical Gardening Experiment

I got inspired by The Rainforest Garden in the idea of setting up a vertical landscape garden. It was a situation when you got lots of plants but lacking display space. (too many plants and too less of a garden space would create a messy, unkempt - jungle look in the garden)

And I was also in a situation where I got everything under the sun theme and I need to focus with working out to bring the impact that I often look for - sort of create an ambiance where you feel good whenever you are in the garden (kind-a-feeling)

Yep, the ferns have to go. Its either throw away or give away situation. They don't fix well in my theme coloured garden. And so, this was a great idea of display. The good thing about ferns is they can really take the abuse. They can be over watered (but not water-logged) and would survive without soil. As you can see - the whole thing is a root-ball mass which easily fit into container spaced compartments.

I had set this up during the Chinese New Year holidays - its about a week now and they are doing fine. My greatest concern is that the whole soil & root mass might just flop & drop when watering. The other challenge is watering - too much water loosen the root support, lack of water dries up the leaves. The Bird Nest Fern are enjoying their new location as they sprout out new leaflets.

I had added Jewel of Opar in the selection to give some colour in the green selection and they simply look pretty good in the collection. The plants that are in this collection:

a) Bird Nest Fern
b) Drawf Petticoat Fern
c) Fluffy Ruffle Fern
d) Basket Plant
e) Jewel of Opar
f) Wandering Jew (Green Tradescantia)
g) Zebra Tradescantia
i) Joyweed

The most challenging moment is hammering the nails to support the wooden frame. It took awhile for me to handle the issue (guess I'm not good in being a carpenter) The wooden frame is actually a fruit crate. I had stapled a layer of plastic sheet to hold the soil and placed small containers to hold the root-ball mass inside them.
Sometimes, it is an issue of trial & error. And I foresee that eventually some species in this collection might overwhelm other species and that others might slowly disappear.

Of course - at the end of the day, it looked nothing like what the Rainforest Gardener proposed.
(lol) Well, I guess - it happens when you work with your own style and ideas. I wanted to use coconut shells and husk but it happened to be during the holiday season and getting them from a sundry shop is going to be a long wait (you can get all the husk & the shell for free as they are thrown away at the end of the day)

I have managed to really reset my garden during the whole Chinese New Year holiday week . It was also the issue of doing & setting a pot at a time, telling myself not to overwhelm and get up set or panic in seeing the whole mess. Amazingly I marvelled that I did manage to do some clearing work - doing little by little and eventually made some visible progress.
(I will upload my overall garden picture later)

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Wishing a Prosperous & a Garden Full of Overwhelming Beauty

to all who celebrate this Chinese New Year!

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Coleus in Hanging Pots - the 2nd & 3rd Generation

BEFORE: (2nd Generation)

I got excited with all the various colours of coleus. They seemed to do very well in hanging pots and I decided to experiment them with few other variegated species hanged together.
They last about 4 months, easy maintenance and well behaved.
Until.. they start to crawl all over....

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AFTER:

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As you can see, the Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina), Joyweed & Coleus had become too leggy.

Weeds started to appear and had taken root and half of the hanging pot. Some of the coleus had died and the pot appear to be barren. All an ugly site to behold at the front entrance of the house.

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NEW: (3rd Generation)

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I had finally reset these ones and cut back most of the Coleus from the hangers. Its a pity most of them didn't survive & slowly wither away. I had lost few species (those which are not the hardy ones) I had manage to keep aside some cuttings and placed them on ground pots but they don't seemed to bounce back.

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Anyway, those that had pull through are Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina) and the white variegated Joyweed. Purple Queen too does well but they tend to rot with too much water.

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These compliment very well and quite hardy. They also maintain the non-leggy appearance by growing downwards (instead of upwards) and able to do very well in both extreme (heavy rains and extreme heat)

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Hope these last till next year (another 4 month's duration). Alternatively I can hang ferns here which they do quite well actually but I'm not so interested in the monotone green (not at the entrance for show)

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Share with me your ideas on hanging pots in your garden - those that give the rich colour, hardy and last long.

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All Types of Vines

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Many of my friends and visitors often mistaken this one for mint.

It look exactly like mint but do not have any fragrance, I wished it was mint especially when it look so gloriously healthy. I had too many of greens and decided to call this one a farewell.

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Somehow, a single vine managed to find its way in a corner of my garden, just leaving it to survive and see if I have some creative idea of putting all the vines in one basket.

(I'm still searching to find out its name)

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This one is called Trailing Watermelon Begonia (Pellionia Repens) not an actual Begonia.

It have a dual colour - when placed in shade, it gives more of the green and in sun, more of the maroon. I'm still keeping this plant, still love the colours compared to all the rest.

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I can't remember how I got this, but its certainly a hardy plant.

This one is known as a Basket Plant (Callisia fragrans) or Spironema fragrans.

Also considered as an inch plant (I wonder why)

It's so easy to grow and can take all the neglect and abuse.

You can take the rossette shaped stalks and place them in bathrooms

(where even when there is limited light - they can still survive)

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I guess this one is called Green Wandering Jew (Tradescantia fluminensis)

What I like about this one is that the leaves feels like a succulent plant,

when press or bend the leave, it snaps as it contains water.

Very hardy and needed no care actually.

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Well, these are all the tradescantia put together.

I guess all the wandering Jews had its time and moved to a different location after wandering in my garden.

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