Ipomoea batatasOrnamental Sweet Potato Vine

Grown as a crop for its tuber, Ipomoea batatas earns its landscape place entirely through the leaf. The ornamental selections run flat and fast across the ground on stems that root at every node, and the foliage ranges from acid chartreuse through bronze to a purple so dark it reads as black.

It is used for quick colour cover on verges, embankments and bed edges, and trailing over the lip of planters and retaining walls where the fall of the stems does the work.

Specifications

• Height0.2 to 0.3 metres as a ground layer
• Width1 to 2 metres, with trailing stems running further and rooting as they go
• Native toTropical Central and South America
• FoliageHeart-shaped to deeply lobed leaves in chartreuse, bronze or near black depending on the selection; evergreen in frost-free conditions
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers free-draining soils and tolerates poor and sandy ground
• LightFull sun to partial shade; leaf colour is strongest in good light
• WaterModerate; wilts visibly if allowed to dry out
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions

Additional Features

• FormDense trailing mat that roots at the nodes and closes quickly
• UsesIdeal for fast ground cover on verges and embankments, bed edging, and trailing over planters and walls
• SpacingPlant 0.3 to 0.5 metres apart for cover within a single season
• Low MaintenanceShear back where it runs beyond its bed; replant when the display thins after a season or two
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound, with leaf beetle and caterpillar the usual concerns
• Erosion ControlRoots at the nodes and holds loose soil on shallow embankments
• VersatilityServes as bedding, edging, planter trailing and green wall infill

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine is the quickest route to a solid block of foliage colour at ground level.