sweet potato vine

Awesome bold color and fine to coarse textured foliage is produced on these annual trailing or dense groundcover plants. These decorative vines are relatives to the sweet potato, where the older varieties are extremely vigorous growers and may produce a few tubers. New varieties have been bred to be less vigorous and more compatible growers with other sun loving annuals in hanging baskets, mixed containers, and in the landscape. Look for the various leaf colors from chartreuse green, bronze, blackish-purple, and tricolor with green, pink and white. The foliage can be finely dissected, deeply lobed, and heart shaped.

Grow in sunny areas, well-drained, amended soil or containers. Feed with a slow release fertilizer, Osmocote® or Plant-tone®. Follow label instructions. Trim if leggy to maintain a tidy habit. Mulch 2″ to suppress weeds, retain moisture and protect against extremes of soil temperature.