Virginia spiderwort has been growing in moist prairies, fertile woodlands, meadows, stream banks, and stony bluffs from eastern North America to Cuba for centuries, and it was among the earliest North American plants introduced to European gardens. The epithet virginiana simply locates it in Virginia. Its flower color is uncommonly variable: a single planting may produce shades of blue, purple, pink, or even white, with each bloom carrying six stamens tipped in bright yellow and distinctly hairy filaments. Flowers open in the morning and last one day, but new ones appear in terminal clusters continuously from spring into early summer.

Hardy in zones 4 to 9 and growing one-and-a-half to three feet tall, it adapts to sun or shade and tolerates wet to average garden soils, though it benefits from extra water during dry spells. Deadheading spent flowers encourages a second flush of blooming in late summer. By midsummer the foliage often sprawls and dies back in heat, returning later in the season; cutting stems back to a few inches after the first bloom keeps the planting tidy. This species has become threatened in parts of the Carolinas through habitat loss and wild collection, so purchasing nursery-propagated plants is important. It belongs in pollinator borders, rain gardens, and native plantings wherever a generous, long-blooming perennial is needed.