Moses in a cradle

* Common name: Moses in a cradle

* Botanical name: Tradescantia spathacea

* What it is: A clump-forming tropical plant with bladed leaves that have plum-purple undersides. Produces some small white flowers. The variegated form is particularly beautiful. Also called moses in a boat or oyster plant.

* Size: About 1 foot tall, 18 to 24 inches wide in a year’s time.

* Where to use: Moses in a cradle is sold primarily as a houseplant, but it also does well as a potted outdoor plant in the summer in shade or as a shady groundcover.

* Care: In a pot, water every day or two when it doesn’t rain and fertilize with a half-strength balanced fertilizer once a month. In the ground, water only when ground goes dry; fertilizer not needed there. Move inside by early October. Frost will kill them.

* Great partner: Perennial pink begonias are good shade partners in the ground. Purple heart setcresia and wandering jew are similar spreading tropicals that can be interplanted in pots or in the ground.