Grow in full coastal sun or part shade. It tolerates moist to fairly dry soil but is best with at least occasional irrigation. This plant is frost tender but can resprout from underground.

Tradescantia spathacea grows naturally from southern Mexico to Guatemala. The name of the genus honors the English naturalists and plant collectors John Tradescant (ca. 1570s – 1638) or possibly his son John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662). It was at one time believed that John Tradescant the Younger first brought the Virginia Spriderwort, Tradescantia virginiana, back to England in 1637 but some contend that the timeline suggests it more likely the plant was given to John Tradescant the elder, who was a collector and traveler and the gardener to the Earl of Salisbury, and not actually collected by either Tradescants. The name for the genus was one proposed by Linnaeus. The common name 'Moses in the Cradle' refers to how the tiny white flowers are cradled by the flat purple bracts. We have grown this interesting plant on and off since 1998. 

The information about Tradescantia spathacea displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.