Purple Heart

Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)

Purple Heart is a fast, trailing perennial grown for its deep purple foliage that brings instant contrast to beds, borders, and containers. It fills in quickly as a groundcover, softening edges and helping reduce weeds where you want reliable coverage. The color is strongest in brighter light, making it a simple way to add bold tone without relying on flowers. In colder climates it is often used as a warm-season accent or houseplant, while warm regions can enjoy it outdoors for long, easy color.

Distinctive Features

This plant forms succulent-like, lance-shaped leaves in rich purple tones on flexible stems that root readily where they touch the soil, creating a dense, spreading mat. Small three-petaled flowers in pink to purple-pink appear most often from midsummer into fall, with occasional bloom outside that window in favorable weather. The foliage can shift greener in deeper shade, but stays more intensely purple with sun and good drainage. Its vigorous, trailing habit makes it equally useful as a groundcover, a spiller over container edges, or a low, colorful filler in mixed plantings.

Growing Conditions

• Sun: Full sun to part shade, with best purple color in brighter light.
• Soil: Well-drained soil, including sandy or rocky mixes, with drainage more important than richness.
• Water: Low to moderate water, allowing the soil surface to dry between waterings once established.
• USDA Zones: Zones 8 to 11.
• Mature Size: About 8 to 12 inches tall and about 18 to 36 inches wide, with longer trailing stems when grown as a spiller.

Ideal Uses

• Focal Point: Use it in a simple container where the deep purple foliage creates a bold contrast feature near an entry or patio.
• Groundcover: Plant in drifts to create a dense, colorful carpet that connects beds and reduces bare soil.
• Edging: Line sunny borders for a low, clean ribbon of purple that frames brighter flowers.
• Rock Gardens: Tuck into gritty beds where heat and quick drainage are part of the design.
• Containers: Let it spill over pot edges to add movement and color to mixed planters.
• Warm-Season Color: Use as an annual accent in colder regions for quick fill and strong foliage impact.

Low Maintenance Care

• Pinching: Pinch tips to encourage branching and a fuller, denser plant.
• Pruning: Shear back leggy stems to refresh growth and keep the patch tidy.
• Watering: Water deeply but infrequently after establishment, increasing only during extended drought or in containers.
• Winter Care: Protect from hard freezes, or grow in containers and bring indoors before sustained cold.
• Propagation: Root stem cuttings easily in soil or water to thicken pots or expand coverage.

Why Choose Purple Heart?

• Foliage Color: Deep purple leaves add bold contrast that makes nearby greens and blooms look sharper.
• Fast Fill: Trailing stems spread and root readily, creating quick coverage with minimal effort.
• Heat Tolerance: Handles hot weather well when planted in well-drained soil.
• Drought Adapted: Performs with less water once established, especially in the ground.
• Deer Resistance: It is often less appealing to deer than many soft, leafy perennials.

If you want strong color that works hard all season, Purple Heart is a simple, dependable choice. Give it sun for the deepest purple, keep it in sharp-draining soil, and trim it when you want a cleaner shape. Used as a groundcover or a container spiller, it delivers bold foliage impact with a low-maintenance routine.