If you’re looking for a pretty vine to grace your garden, you may wish to consider the sweet potato vine. This vine will wind itself around things and works well in the house as well as outside in the garden or on the patio.
There are a few different varieties that you may wish to consider. There is the southern plant that is similar to the vegetable. There is also the ornamental variety that most gardeners use.
The ornamental vine does produce tubers that are edible, however, they are not very palatable and they are rather bitter. This variety is more often used as a houseplant or on a patio.
The stems themselves are rather vine-like and very similar to the philodendron. When grown indoors, they are cared for much as the ivy is cared for.
They work well in both containers and in hanging baskets and can also be used as a ground cover in a flower bed in or near a patio.
The famous variety of Sweet Carolina Purple offers up dark purple foliage with smaller tubers. It is a less vigorous growing variety and works ideally in baskets and small sized containers. The dark purple is an ideal contrast to the green foliage.
Other varieties include the “blackie” that offers almost black colored foliage and has deep cut leaves that distinguish it from other varieties.
Marguerite is a bold chartreuse colored green that lends heart shaped flowers to your decor. Fascinating to view this is an ideal contrast to other plants that are oval shaped.
Tricolor is another of the less vigorous growing varieties and has pointy leaves with three shades of green, pink and of white. It looks very pretty in containers and flower beds and thanks to its less vigorous growth you won’t have to worry that it will quickly outgrow the planter that you have it in.
Fairly easy to grow they offer your garden and houseplants a lovely variety. They are easy to propagate from the small roots of the eye buds or from cutting stems. You never have to worry about getting these started with seeds.
Cousin to the morning glory, you’ll appreciate how quickly these begin to grow once you’ve got them started. Simply place a piece of the tuber into a glass of water and allow the top portion of the tuber to be exposed to the air. You can use toothpicks to secure this in place.
Stem cuttings are started in the same fashion although you won’t need to worry about the toothpicks. Place your starts in a sunny window and keep them warm. They thrive in heat. Use well-drained soil and allow them to have adequate drainage.
You’ll care for these just like you do any other vine. They are very tolerant of drought and prefer moist soil as opposed to soggy or dry soil.
Sweet potato vines lend themselves well to your houseplant collection and will look lovely for many years to come. Allow plenty of climbing area.
