A Little Holiday Sparkle

If you have decorated a tree this year, you probably have small ornaments that have lost their toppers, or a few that just haven’t made it onto a branch. And if you don’t have a tree, then perhaps it is children’s tiny building blocks that are piled up somewhere. We all have some little items, in quantity, that are not serving any real purpose. (Kind of irritating, isn’t it?)

Now, my current on-hand items are the ornaments. Although I was planning to put them away until next year, when I saw them on a table near a favorite plant, I decided to put them to use. I decided to use them in a display with my Tradescantia. This beauty of a plant with a purple aura looked great on its own, but it would look equally nice in a decorated container. I knew Tradescantia could hold its own, even near shiny baubles.

My Tradescantia was small enough to be ideal for placing inside a medium-sized glass container, the kind you may have received as part of a florist’s arrangement. My glass container happened to be an open-topped cube, but a cylindrical glass container would be nice too. The only things that are key here are that the outer container must be clear glass, and it must be bigger than the inner plant container.

Tradescantia needs sufficient light to keep its color vibrant. If its coloration is becoming subdued, relocation to a brighter space is necessary. But I was pleased with the color of my Tradescantia, so I knew it could reside just about anywhere for a bit of time… for the holidays. I placed it in its plant holder in the center of my outer glass container, ready for the next step.

Now, my stray ornaments were mainly small-sized ones, and this worked to my advantage. Careful not to shatter any, I arranged my ornaments in the space between my Tradescantia and the glass. Yes, there were some gaps between bulbs, but the ornaments’ colors and great shine allowed that to go unnoticed. And because Tradescantia is a gorgeous star of a plant, even the bright and shiny ornaments could not eclipse it. To my eye, they simply enhanced this plant, which has an iridescence all its own.

Tradescantia grows well indoors, with its main enemy being water if it is left to sit in the crown of the plant. To avoid turning stems mushy with this standing water, it is wise to hydrate the plant from its base rather than from above. Keeping this and its light requirements in mind, even the newest plant tenders can have success growing Tradescantia and can use it in a number of displays. They may find that their plants need to be pinched back to stay full and not leggy. But aside from that, Tradescantia is the perfect centerpiece to a decorative display, for it will not need to be pulled out of its display container for special care.

I say Tradescantia for simplicity's sake, but that is the name of a large family, the Spiderworts. The Tradescantia I am really talking about is Tradescantia fluminensis Nanouk. This variety shows off the most pleasing tones of purple, cream, and green. The colors worked well with my ornaments. And when the assembly was complete, I was relieved to see that I had not done much damage to the foliage, which is tender enough to crease and split under a strong hand.

Some plant displays require lots of effort. Their designs are unique, and the work to create them is involved. This is not one of those displays. But that makes me appreciate it even more. The shiny ornaments behind the glass look somewhat magnified and absolutely terrific, as would just about any collectible item (say, the children’s tiny building blocks). And it does not bother me in the slightest that I have not spent hours putting this little study in color together. The simple nature of this makes it appealing in a season when I do not have much time to spare.

So speaking of “spare”, get those spare ornaments—or tiny blocks, or anything you have en masse—and do some quick assembling. If you do not have Tradescantia, use another plant, or seek out this beauty which is possible to find at this time of year. Certainly the plant will not disappoint… and I doubt the resulting display will either.