Range includes most of eastern and central north Ameria west to the prairie region and north into southeastern Canada.  The southern range limit is in the Florida panhandle. Wildflower garden, typically a shade garden.

Informal shady semi-shady gardens.

Wet garden. Rain garden. Shade tree for wet areas and along wetland edges. Leaves turn yellow in fall. Slow growing.

Toxic  to humans. and some animals. Specimen plant, foundation planting, screen.

The cells of the stamen hairs of some Tradescantia are colored blue, but when exposed to sources of ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, the cells mutate and change color to pink; they are one of the few tissues known to serve as an effective bioassay for ambient radiation levels. Border plantings.

The author treats this as a friendly weed. Pull them if where there is something more desirable. Back of a wildflower garden in a casual setting. Grown en-masse, this plant can be used as a temporary groundcover.