Sweet Potato Vine Flower

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.

Sweet potato vine flower.

The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant. Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet. Ornamental sweet potato vines are in the same family as edible sweet potatoes and are in fact the same species. Ornamental sweet potato vines don t produce many flowers which means they often don t produce seeds.

Edible sweet potato vines and some ornamental varieties bloom with flowers that resemble morning glories in shape but some ornamental sweet potato vines do not flower according to missouri. Many ornamentals are also sterile and only really viable to produce from cuttings. One of the easiest ways to create multi seasonal interest in the garden is to use plants with interesting foliage. 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.

The ornamental sweet potato plant ipomoea butatas is somewhat different from its southern grown vegetable sibling. A vigorous annual or a tender perennial it takes off in summer heat.