Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine Flower

While the ornamental sweet potato plants don t often flower when blackie does it produces lavender or purple trumpet like flowers.

Ornamental sweet potato vine flower.

Although the plant works well as a ground cover it is especially effective. The ornamental sweet potato plant ipomoea butatas is somewhat different from its southern grown vegetable sibling. Often grown in container gardens for its trailing stems of purple chartreuse or variegated foliage ornamental sweet potato vine is actually related to the sweet potatoes you d grow in your vegetable garden. That means the tubers it forms are actually edible.

Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit. While it does produce edible sweet potato tubers albeit not very palatable and bitter the ornamental variety bears more colorful foliage making it a popular houseplant. The foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms. This heat loving perennial will die back if the plant experiences hard freezes below 32 degrees fahrenheit 0 c.

Ipomoea batatas sweet caroline this variety is not just one coloration of plant but includes five separate color options yellowish green red purple bronze and light green varieties are available.