Yes.

It is common for tall flowers to fall over when wet. My delphiniums would do it every year if not staked. When you think about it with thw weight of the flowers doubled or tripled with water is a lot for the stems to hold up. Your best bet is to stake them or give them some support. Bamboo stakes and green velcro ties are almost invisible once the foliage has grown around it. I set my stakes in when the plants are small and tape them as they grow. I like the velcro tape. It is soft on one side and velcro on the other so they are easy to put on. In fall I gather up the tape and store in an icecream pail with a lid for the next year. I have used the same tape for 3 years now and it is still good

If the stakes and tape are too much bother you can also buy hoops like peony hoops that you put on early and let the plant grow into it. Both systems work good and give the plants support so they don't fall over with the weight

What you describe is the very reason I yanked this plant from my old garden - floppy plants that self-seeded where I didn't want them and minimal flowering. Not enough bang for the buck!!

I'm not sure water has anything to do with it - flowers aren't large enough to hold water to weigh them down and the plants flopped regardless of how wet it was. And too short a plant a bother staking! But not too short to still want to flop. The Chicago Botanical Garden has included Tradescantias in their performance trials and reseeding and flopping are discussed. Deterioration of the foliage - including flopping - after blooming is pretty common and they recommend shearing the plants back at the end of the bloom season.

Here is a link that might be useful: CBG tradescantia performance trials

I have the form with gold leaves called 'Sweet Kate.' it never flops here. It never seeds around either. If you really like those and the ones you have are bad, try that one.

echinaceamaniac wrote: I have the form with gold leaves called 'Sweet Kate.' it never flops here. It never seeds around either.

I wrote similarly in another thread but others were convinced that all 'tradescandia' are invasive monsters and this isnt the case for the goldy coloured ones such as 'Kate'.

Not all others. I actually wrote , that I suspected Tradescantia X andersoniana to be selfsterile, as it did not seed for me when I only had one clone.

'Sweet Kate' is awesome. The foliage and bloom contrast is so nice. It doesn't spread at all. I have had it for a few years now and haven't seen a single seedling. It only gets 18 inches tall so that solves the flopping issue too.

I agree echinaceamaniac ie I love 'Sweet Kate'; outstanding flower colour and nice and bright foliage. It does just fine in shady conditions.

Actually, the valid name for this variety is Blue and Gold, not Sweet Kate. I have found confirmation on the internet, that Tradescantia X andersoniana IS SELFSTERILE, so no selfseeding if only one clone(unless your neighbor has one). I feel like I discovered it myself :-) .

From Plant Delights:

This import from the UK is taking the gardening world by storm! Discovered in the garden of Mrs. Stevens of Rusthall, Kent, it was named after her blond-haired daughter, Kate Stevens.

From 'A Comparative Study of Tradescantia Cultivars' Chicago Botanical Garden:

Of the five eliminated taxa, 'Charlotte', 'Osprey', and
'Satin Doll' were incorrectly identified and not retested.'Sweet Kate' is synonymous with 'Blue and Gold', which is the valid name.

I knew Blue and Gold already when it was available on the market many years ago. The name Sweet Kate popped up suddenly several years later making a major confusion .

Here is more information:

Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' was introduced by Hillier Nurseries at the 2000 Chelsea Flower Show, where its clear blue blossoms and golden foliage created a sensation.Nowhere in the gardening literature, as far as I can tell, is the real "Kate" acknowledged, but, by the next growing season, the new cultivar named for her appeared in the catalogs of cutting-edge nurseries in the U.S.The double advantages of outstanding flower and foliage ensured her reputation. Inexplicably, Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' came to be listed as T. 'Blue and Gold' in the U.S., and both cultivar designations are used here and in England.Despite the confusing nomenclature, this herbaceous perennial performs admirably wherever she is planted.

Oh no.

"Some nurseries list 'Sweet Kate' and 'Blue and Gold' as synonymous, one-in-the-same; however, the RHS, currently lists them as separate cultivars."

I recall receiving catalogues from England in the early 2000's and NOBODY was using the name Sweet Kate to begin with. My personal opinion is, that the original name Blue and Gold was changed by AMERICANS(there are dozens of examples of such procedures, changing names to give the plants 'cutesy air'

Everything I've read says the original name was Sweet Kate and Americans changed it to the other name. All I know is the tag for my plant says Sweet Kate so that's what I will call it. It is listed at many major sellers as Sweet Kate. I won't argue with the lady who discovered it and named it after the little girl Kate.

Yes, of course you do as you please. Just want to add: if this sweet story was true, why did they not send it on the market with the plant from the beginning, just so many years later? It would be perfect to market the plant. Does it not make you think?

It was introduced in 2000 at the Chelsea Flower show as 'Sweet Kate.' A simple Google search is all I had to do to find reports cached from 2000.

A link below has an extra information

Here is a link that might be useful: sweet kate

I bought mine as "Blue and Gold" whether it's the same as "Sweet Kate" I don't know. I have mine in a fairly sunny location it never flops or seeds around, LOVE this plant.

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Annette

My 3 SK lay horizontal after a rain when they heavy with flowers.

When I went looking for more information I found this nursery is listing them as two different varieties. Sweet Kate shorter at 8-12 inches high and Blue and Gold growing to 20 inches. Scroll down to the Tradescanthias.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Lazy S

In the link I've posted before, Blue and Gold is described as gentian blue, Sweet Kate is described as purple.

This is a new one called 'Sunshine Charm' by Terra Nova, photo taken at their display garden last weekend.

The Charm Series is supposed to be an improvement over 'Sweet Kate', compact and free flowering.

click thumbnail to see bigger

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The Terra Nova catalog (sadly, wholesale only) I picked up at the open garden mentions 'Blue and Gold' and 'Sweet Kate' being synonymous.

Terra Nova always claims their plants are an improvement of something. Unfortunately, that often proves to be false.

Yes, I've read your opinion on Terra Nova many times. With 600 plants patented and introduced to the trade there are bound to be a few dogs. They do cease production of dogs and they do trial them around the country and even in other countries before release. I went to talk recently given by the owner and he showed slides from trials in Japan, Germany and around the US of new cultivars they are working on.

I saw these Tradescantia in person and took the picture myself and have experience with 'Sweet Kate' which I shovel pruned for being floppy and few flowered and I could clearly see that this plant is an improvement in form and flowering. We've had record spring rain and these were standing up beautifully in full sun and not foliage burned either.

Buyorsell888, it's nice of you to defend Terra Nova. Unfortunately, I will have to pull you down back to Earth and tell THE TRUTH. They may be doing trials in other countries, but the real, final production is delegated to contractors in many countries, and there, NOBODY IS CARRYING OUT ANY FORM FOR SELECTION OF MUTANTS AMONG PLUGS FOR THE FINAL SALE. I KNOW IT FOR SURE. I know that in Holland nobody can garantee the quality of the plants delivered to Denmark, thus Danish sellers claim you CAN'T have your money back. If you got a dud, bad luck for you. So if there are any potential readers from Denmark, Sweden or Norway: do not buy anything here if you hear it is delivered from Holland. DO NOT BE NAIVE! Run away as fast as you can! So, now they are pulling duds from the production? How many billions they have earned on them, delivering utter rubbish??

If they stop selling duds, why is Echinacea 'Mac 'n Cheese' still listed? That is one of the worst plants ever created. You can't honestly tell me they tested that plant. 'Now Cheesier' is a dud too that was supposed to be improved.

Kim's Knee High and Big Sky Sunset both failed for me but I don't rant against their producers.

I do not personally grow Mac 'n Cheese nor Now Cheesier but I do know from decades of experience in sales that no one keeps producing and selling anything that does not sell. If consumers are complaining and returning and the growers are in turn complaining, production will cease. There is no profit in continually producing a dog. It/They must be continuing to sell. Therefore they must not be dogs for everyone. No garden center is going to keep ordering a plant they get complaints on....

I have been to an open garden at Dan Heims personal home and also to Terra Nova and if he has earned "billions" it wasn't spent there except on the tissue culture laboratory which we were told Saturday cost multiple millions. Tissue culture is very time consuming and it is cloning, there are no mutants...It costs a fortune to travel the world and seek out new plants and he is extremely well respected in the field. He is damn nice in person too. funny too.

Here is a photo of the same Tradescantia shot in Sept 2008. So they've been trialed in that location at least 3.5 years...

By September in full sun there is some leaf burning in these photos and the plant is not as upright as in June but much nicer than 'Sweet Kate' ever was for me.

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There are no mutants in tissue culture??? You should definitely post it on the Hosta Forum!!! Where do you think all the distorted plants come from then? Yes, he can travel the world with the money he owns me and millions of other people who've been ripped off. As far as nice persons go: nearly all the serial killers were the sweetest neighbors.

There are many mutants in tissue culture. In fact, many new cultivars introduced are mutants. Brunnera 'Jack Frost' was a mutant from another variety.