Now that the Olympic Games have focused the international spotlight on Rio de Janeiro, all manner of things Brazilian have reached the collective consciousness. As I—and the rest of the world—glued myself to the competitive cavalcade of sprinters, gymnasts and fencers, I thought of two things—getting myself into better shape and Roberto Burle Marx—1909-1994—the great Brazilian landscape designer and artist.
Burle Marx brought an artist’s sensibility and a love of tropical plants to all his designs, which tended to be large, lush, colorful and awash in contrasting shapes and movement. Some of the televised background shots during the Olympics showed the Copacabana Beach Promenade, a swirling “pavement landscape” that was one of Burle Marx’s masterworks.
Among the artist’s favorite plants was one that many of us have in our homes—the glorious purple Tradescantia pallida, which goes by a host of common names including wandering Jew, purple heart, purple secretia and purple queen. The first name may be a source of confusion, as more than one plant in the Tradescantia family has been tagged as “wandering Jew”. This particular wanderer is a sprawling plant distinguished by its vivid purple leaves and jointed stems. Shady conditions add some green to those appendages, but the purple is always present. Purple heart almost never grows more than eight inches tall, but left to its own devices may sprout multiple stems, each of which will sprawl up to eighteen inches. The leaves are long, pointed blades that are sheathed to the stems, so that each stem section seems to arise from a protective leaf base. Pairs of leaves at the ends of stems shelter the small, purple-pink, three-petaled flowers that are reminiscent of common garden spiderwort. The miniature flowers are lovely, but highly ephemeral, usually lasting only one morning. If you like the blooms, don’t worry, the plant makes up for their transitory nature by producing large quantities of them in warm weather.
Unlike garden spiderwort, purple heart is not hardy in cold winter climates. This discourages gardeners in northerly zones from using it as a dramatic, sprawling ground cover in the manner of Burle Marx. Most of us grow purple heart in containers, especially window boxes, hanging baskets or pots perched high enough to allow the free-ranging stems to cascade at will. The plants also look wonderful planted at the tops of rock walls.
The flip side of purple heart’s tender nature is that it is extremely easy to grow and propagate. To get a new one, pluck off one of the jointed stems, make a clean cut at the end and stick it in damp potting medium. Keep the cutting well watered and nine times out of ten, a new plant will sprout in short order. If you are the proud owner of a mature specimen and the stems get too long for their assigned space, a little judicious pruning will garner a good crop of cuttings to give to friends. This is how most of the world’s purple heart plants came into being. I have no idea where mine came from; except that I am reasonably sure I did not buy it in a store.
But what if you really want to channel your inner Roberto Burle Marx and cover part of your garden with Tradescantia pallida? Making this kind of bold, tropical statement would require taking multiple stem cuttings from an established plant in late winter, rooting them indoors and then planting them out in the garden at a time in late spring when night temperatures begin to stay consistently above fifty degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of the season, you could easily replenish your indoor purple heart supplies by taking stem cuttings from the outdoor plants. This would fill your house with more purple hearts than a military hospital, but you could perpetuate a Burle Marx-style landscape in the warm months. For added drama outdoors, accent the purple hearts with some golden green elephant ears—colocasia or alocasia varieties—or contrasting cannas.
Once a purple heart plant has rooted, care is easy. Water when the top of the soil feels dry to the touch. The plants are somewhat drought tolerant, so if you miss a day or two of watering or must conserve water for thirstier plants, it is no problem. They can also tolerate that other great crime against houseplants—overwatering. Don’t make a habit of that either.
Some vendors sell a Tradescantia pallida variety called ‘Purpurea’, which has somewhat more dramatic purple color than the species. If you are on the lookout for purple heart, you can occasionally find either the variety or the species holding forth by itself or as part of a container arrangement in the indoor plant area at a garden center or florist’s shop. Otherwise, poll your houseplant-loving friends. Chances are someone will give you a piece of his or her purple heart.