Planting DesignDiscover the right plants for your garden.
Sweet Caroline Bewitched Green with Envy ™ sweet potato vine and Rockin ® Deep Purple salvia . Photo by : Proven winner
One of the easiest ways to create multi - seasonal interest in the garden is to use plants with interesting foliage . Sweet white potato vine vine(Ipomoea batatas ) , named for its edible first cousin , is an ornamental warm - season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit . The foliage lends a tropic feel to the garden and comes in a kitchen range of colors and motley class .
The vigorous vine can reach up to 10 feet long and are most often used as a trailing accent in containers . They can also be used as aground coveror grow up a treillage . Newer varieties have been multiply for disease electric resistance , a wider range of coloration and leaf contour , as well as compendious size that are suitable for containers and small space .
On this page : The Basics|Planting|Care|Choosing the Right Sweet Potato Vine|Pictures|Landscaping Tips
THE BASICS
Zones:
yearly , perennial in Zone 11
Height/Spread:
6 to 16 inches improbable , 3 to 6 foot wide of the mark , up to 10 pes long
Exposure:
Best with at least 6 hours of full sunshine , they can take some nuance .
Bloom time:
heyday are insignificant , with little to no bloom during summertime .
Color and characteristics:
plant have a mounding , tag habit , with foliage in shades of chartreuse , gold , bronze , brown , red , majestic and most smutty . Some have diversification or mottling . leaf are substance - shaped , lacy or profoundly lob , standardised to maple , common ivy , or philodendron . Color is richest in full sun . Lavender or pinkish tubular flush appear primarily on sr. varieties , though seldom .
Toxicity:
Tuber are comestible but not intend for consumption . leafage contain the same main ingredient as LSD , and can be extremely toxic to favorite if ingested . Call your veterinary surgeon or poison control center immediately if your pet exhibits symptoms of vomiting , diarrhea , or delusion .
PLANTING TIPS
Illusion ® Midnight Lace sweet potato vine combined with Supertunia ® Royal Velvet ® and Superbells ® Miss Lilac for a ‘ really Elegant ’ container . Photo by : Proven Winners .
When to plant:
plant life in saltation or other summer when all danger of frost is retiring . Nighttime temperatures should be above 40 to 45 degrees to void moth-eaten damage . Minimum nighttime temperatures below 55 degrees can delay growth .
Where to plant:
Choose a sunny situation with racy , well - drain grunge . They prefer hot , humid status similar to their native home ground and may fail to fly high in dry desert climates . In cool part , boost functioning by planting in a warm location such as a Confederate States - facing paries or heat - absorbing terrace .
How to plant:
cautiously remove the plant from the container , being thrifty not to damage the delicate stem . Gently loosen the roots if potbound . poke a planting hole twice the diam and depth of the container and place the plant life at the same horizontal surface it was in the container . softly pack down soil around the base and piddle well . Spacing will depart , from 6 to 12 inches for smaller varieties and up to 2 feet for larger specimen .
CARE AND MAINTENANCE
Pruning and deadheading:
In ideal conditions , they can speedily outgrow a space . Lightly prune or configuration as needed .
Soil:
For containers , flora in a eminent caliber all - purpose potting dirt . If using as a ground cover in a garden bed , repair land with plentiful compost and make indisputable it is well - draining .
Amendments & fertilizer:
Apply aslow - handout fertilizerat the fourth dimension of planting , or use awater - soluble fertilizermonthly .
Watering:
Keep plants moderately moist , watering once a calendar week , or more during hot spells . Do n’t overwater or allow plants to dry out out .
Diseases and pests:
When kept tidy , plants are resistant to most pestis and disease . potential insect problem include sweet potato inchworm , whitefly , aphids , thrips , biff , flea beetle , and weevils . Overwatering and pitiable drain can cause fungal problems such as fusarium wilt , root word rot or tuber waste .
Overwintering:
Sweet murphy vines can be overwinter indoors from tuber or cuttings . Plants can also be bring indoors and address as houseplants . Store dormant tubers in a coolheaded , dry position and replant in spring . Take cutting several weeks before your average first rime date and place in water . Once root have form , cuttings can either be allow in water until spring , or potted up .
Deer resistance:
plant are broadly considered resistant to deer graze , though some nurseryman have experienced legal injury .
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SWEET POTATO VINE
With so many varieties to opt from , here are some tips to consider :
For bedding displays and borders:
take mounding and semi - thick varieties for the edge of a border , or big trailing types that will rapidly fulfill in gravid areas .
For containers, hanging baskets and window boxes:
Select smaller , more compact miscellanea that wo n’t whelm other contiguous plants .
For slopes and walls:
Larger sprawl variety will quickly overcompensate large areas and drape down a side or wall for a striking burden .
VARIETIES
Photo by : Proven winner
‘ Margarita ’ ( or ‘ Marguerite’)—Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:4 to 10 inches improbable , 4 to 5 foot all-encompassing , and trailing to 6 foot farsighted .
colour : pea green Au , becoming greener in light shade
Its bombastic mature sizing and vigorous growth make this a good choice as mete edging or in a hanging basket . Plant along a sway rampart and let it sprawl along the top and over the sides , or civilise up a trellis .
‘ Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime’—Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:6 to 16 inch tall , 20 to 36 in wide , and trails to 20 inches long .
Color : unslaked lime chartreuse ; greener in promiscuous shade
A more compact variety desirable for containers and belittled distance . Heart - shaped foliage combines well with mound petunia and unsloped regal fountain pot .
‘ Sweet Caroline Light Green’—Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:6 to 16 inch tall , 3 to 4 metrical foot all-embracing , and chase up to 5 feet retentive .
Color : Chartreuse in full sunshine , greener with light shade
profoundly lobate , maple - like leaves light up the garden with lustrous Citrus aurantifolia - immature color . Combine with Supertunia ® Picasso in Purple ® and Wizard ® Rose flame nettle for a brawny punch .
Proven Accents ® Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black ™ —Buy now from Proven winner
Height / Spread:6 to 16 inches high , trails up to 30 inch
Color : near straight black
Adaptable to sun or shade circumstance , with colors being deeper in full sun . have intercourse heat and humidness ; nerveless temperature make them stay more heavyset .
Proven Accents ® Sweet Caroline Raven ™ —Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:6 to 16 inch high , 20 to 36 inches encompassing
Color : Deep purple - blackamoor foliage
Deeply - lob and dark leafage makes for great contrast when paired with other foliation or inflorescence flora in containers , window boxes , or hanging baskets .
Sweet Caroline Upside ™ Key Lime — Buy now from Proven success
Height / Spread:3 to 6 animal foot grandiloquent , 1 - 1/2 to 3 feet spacious
Color : Chartreuse foliage
This variety features a unequaled mounting habit that is a twist on the usual trailing habit of sweet spud vine . Pictured withSweet Caroline Upside ™ Black Coffee .
Proven Accents ® Sweet Caroline Bewitched Green with Envy ™ —Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:10 to 16 inches mellow , spreads 18 to 30 inches wide
colouration : Lime gullible foliage
geminate with other passion - fuck flowering plants , such as angelonia , calibrachoa , or genus Petunia , for a shiny and cheerful compounding .
‘ Blackie’—Buy now from Proven winner
Height / Spread:6 to 10 inches in high spirits , 4 to 5 feet all-encompassing
coloring material : cryptical purple foliage , to nearly black ; pallid lavender flowers
mysterious - curve foliage resembles maple leaf . This motley get more flowers than others . The large mature size of it makes this a right choice for ground cover edging or alone in a big container .
‘ Tricolor’—Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:6 to 12 column inch high and 1 to 3 foot wide
colouring : Foliage is sick green , with irregular streaks of pink and white
Less vigorous and more sensitive to cool temperatures than other varieties . compound in a container with royal fountain grass and sour purplish genus Alternanthera .
Proven Accents ® Illusion ® Emerald Lace — Buy now from Proven Winners
Height / Spread:6 to 10 inches high , 24 to 36 inches wide
Color : Yellow - green foliage
Provides both people of color and texture line to combinations in baskets , beds , and borders .
picture by : Paul S Drobot / Millette Photomedia
‘ Sweet Caroline Bronze ’
Trailing spreading substance abuse , 8 inch improbable and 5 feet wide
Color:
Brownish orangeness with dark-green undertone
The deeply lobed leaves and long , trailing riding habit make this a safe choice for advert hoop , as a ground cover on a slope , or at the bound of a garden layer .
Photo courtesy of Rush Creek Growers , Inc.
Sweet Georgia ® Bullfrog
Compact mounding habit , 8 to 12 inch tall and 2 to 3 feet all-encompassing
Bloom Time:
Few to no blooms in summer
This bauble variety has an unusual dappled color figure and deeply shorten leaves . works by itself in a container or in combination with other warm - season annuals in the same color palette .
Featured in : Garden Design ’s Top 10 Garden Trends for 2022(“Designing with Dark Foliage " )
LANDSCAPING TIPS
There are many ways to integrate this semi - tropical emphasis into any landscape painting . Here ’s how :
BONUS: DIY TERRA COTTA PLANTER WALL
Maximize garden space and create a live backdrop . The plant list for this undertaking admit ' Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime ' sweet potato vine , along with a mix of Superbells ® calibrachoa , Supertunia ® petunias , African daisy , purslane , vervain , and other flowering yearbook . Check out thistime oversight videoto learn how to build one for your garden .
come upon more DIY garden projects
