Gardeners turn to the sweet potato vine for its ability to power through just about anything while bringing interesting shapes sizes and colors to a pot or plot.
Sweet potato bine.
Sweet potato plants can provide a beautiful low ground cover in planters that will trail out over the edge.
Anyone who s gardened in containers for long knows the magic formula for an effective container you need a thriller upright showy plant fillers mounding plants on the sides and spillers trailing plants that cascade over the sides.
They are bred for the beauty of their leaves rather than edible tubers and the vines from these plants make them look more like a morning glory or clematis than a member of the potato family.
Sweet potato vines the best spillers ever.
The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant.
In containers make sure there are adequate drainage holes.
Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet.
Care of sweet potato plants.
Sweet potato vines enjoy a bright sunny location outdoors with similar conditions in the home.
The plant grows best in moist well drained soil.
A vigorous annual or a tender perennial it takes off in summer heat.
Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit the foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms.
They also thrive in heat.
For a similar trailing effect you can plant your sweet potato vines in pots or hanging baskets.
Varieties of this type of sweet potato may bear black chartreuse or multicolored leaves.
The foliage of ornamental sweet potato vines is the reason they are grown.
Sweet potato vine grows practically anywhere from full sun to full shade.
Ipomoea butatas or sweet potato vine thrives in hot tropical climates and is an ornamental foliage plant often used as a foil for flowering displays.
Sweet potato vine does well in containers where it is a common spiller plant.
In hot summer climates such as southern florida it can struggle in full sun during the hottest months especially if the soil dries out.
Some of the older varieties may even grace your garden with a few sporadic lavender blooms that look like a slightly more tubular morning glory and for good.
There s multiple ways to use sweet potato vine in your landscape.
Yet the tubers and even the plant in some cases are easy to save for another.
It does best in full sun and warm weather temperatures should remain above 55ºf before planting outside.
Give them well draining soil whether they are grown in pots or in the ground.
One of the easiest ways to create multi seasonal interest in the garden is to use plants with interesting foliage.
Where to plant sweet potato vine.
