In Bloom Now: Spiderwort

This Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp.) is in bloom in my garden:

The flowers last a very long time. At night, they close up tight like they’ve never blossomed. In the morning, they open up again. Here’s a photo I took of Mom’s Spiderwort on May 24th:

Wort is the old name for Herb, so Spiderwort or Spider Herb was used for someone who received a Spider bite, among other things.

There are some interesting articles about Spiderwort at Killerplants.com:

What was spiderwort?

Who was John Tradescant?

How were spiderworts used by the Aztecs?

House Sparrow

There is a pair of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) in my backyard “fooling around”, and the female landed on one of my birdbaths long enough for me to capture her photo:

Isn’t she a little sweetie!