Inch plant

* Common name: Inch plant

* Botanical name: Tradescantia zebrina

* What it is: An old-fashioned tender vine – usually grown as a houseplant – that’s not as well known as it used to be, despite its ease of care.

  Plants grow in a trailing habit and produce colorful leaves that are a blend of green, purple and creamy-silver. (This plant was previously known as “wandering Jew.”)

* Size: Trails 2 to 3 feet in a single season with a mounding height of under 1 foot.

* Where to use: Usually used in a hanging basket as a colorful trailer – either by itself or draping down one side. Also works in a big pot or even as a shady groundcover planted in summer in the shade.

   Prefers shade or at least afternoon shade with morning sun; leaves will bleach in direct sun.

* Care: Inch plants aren’t frost-hardy, so grow them outside in summer but move them back inside by late September. Overly long “arms” can be cut back any time. Tip cuttings from these cutbacks root easily in soil to create new plants.

   If you don’t plan to keep it, yank and compost when frost kills the plant in fall. Occasional balanced granular fertilizer is helpful but usually not necessary.

   Check pots daily for moisture and add water if soil is dry, usually every day or two in hot weather.

* Great partner: Showy enough to fill a pot or basket alone but also looks nice paired with purple browallia or white euphorbia. In the ground, grow at the base of white hydrangeas.