Growing 'Happy Accidents'

By Holly Newby
    Happy accidents. That is the starting point for many a gardening enthusiast. You get a plant from someone, leave it to dehydrate, and instead it grows like wildfire and all of a sudden you are a gardener.
    We have had that experience with an ornamental sweet potato this year. The one little plant we planted last year, sat quietly until a few months ago, then it kicked into overdrive. It has filled in an area of the garden that is 10x10 feet square.
    We didn’t just want to prune and pitch the vines, because their foliage is so beautiful. We found out that the ornamental sweet potato is easy to root from cuttings, so we are trying.
    The lush tropical plant that grows as a perennial in Florida has beautiful leaves in shade of bright yellow green to almost purplish-black. It does produce edible roots, but they aren’t delicious like their southern garden cousins.
    The sweet potato vines have become very popular for container gardens, especially in the fall with their bold colors paired with colorful crotons, mums, and fall colored grasses.
    The unique sweet potato plants may be used as a border or hanging baskets, too. To propagate, just take a clipping from a growing vine end and put a couple inches of the stem into some fresh potting soil with root tone or root hormone. Soon new roots will start to grow. Keep it moist and in three weeks you can transplant the new plant into a bigger pot or put it into your container garden. The vines will quickly flow. Other than an occasional trimming, ornamental sweet potato is an easy plant to grow. They don’t need much water, will spring back from being wilted and will grow in half sun to full shade. The vines will come back from a freeze and are drought tolerant. We are having fun trying to root sweet potato vines this week. Send us a picture of what you are growing. Keep those pictures and ideas coming. We love to share the fun in the garden with others. Please send me a picture of what is in your garden this week to hollynewby1@aol.com. Keep growing…