Sweet Potato Vine Flower Bed

Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit.

Sweet potato vine flower bed.

Ornamental sweet potato vines may start small but some varieties will have you swimming in lush leaves by mid summer. You re probably most familiar with sweet potato vine as a vibrant eye catching chartreuse colored vine spilling out of flower pots or brightening up a garden bed as a ground cover. You can start your own sweet potato slips with store bought sweet potatoes if you don t have any vines currently growing on your homestead. Keep reading for more ornamental sweet potato info.

With edible sweet potatoes as with most root crops and herbs it is important to remove any flowers. 6 to 16 inches tall 3 to 6 feet wide vines up to 10 feet long. Ornamental sweet potato vines are related to edible sweet potatoes and to morning glories but they have colorful leaves rather than plain green ones. Sweet potato vine ornamental sweet potato vine.

Water and nutrient needs. The plants require a 2 foot spacing when grown as groundcover so they have room to vine and flower. 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 vines also grow well as a groundcover sprawling over a bed.

Growing sweet potato vines is something every gardener should consider. Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet. Ornamental versus edible sweet potato vine. However if a sweet potato flower does occur it resembles its cousin the morning glory convolvulus spp mostly in shades of light blue to purple.

Why sweet potato vine is so popular. Full sun part sun. Grown and cared for like average houseplants these attractive vines add a little something extra to the home or patio. Most ornamental varieties do not flower.

Planting a bed of sweet potatoes. This is easy as shoo fly pie. The foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms. Ornamental sweet potato info.

Just cut some vines and stick them in.