My bride, Jan, said, “Those ornamental sweet potatoes you planted this year look better than they did in 2015.” She was describing a big display of Sugary food Caroline Medusa Green that was draping over a rock wall.Sheepishly, I bowed my
head and sort of whispered that I didn’t plant any sweet potatoes this year. I feel like I am about to break out in hives understanding what I am about to compose. Understanding I was going to do this, I even looked for counsel from other Southern horticulturists.My gorgeous Sugary food Caroline Medusa Green spilling over the wall remains in year two; so is my Impression Midnight Lace growing in a container. My Impression Emerald Lace is in year 3, and my dollar rescue off death row clearance at the big box shop is in year four.Confessing this is most relieving. I have felt like I ought to belong to a sweet potato aid group where we sign up with and
mention absolutely, “Hey I’m Norman and I grow ornamental sweet potatoes as seasonal.”The guilt associated with this is deep rooted. The tags for the plants state sturdy in zones 11a and 11b, holy Panama! However I suppose my most profound regret came from the years working as a gardening specialist for Mississippi State University. The first line in my task description was to promote the green industry.I have felt that if I spill the beans that the ornamental sweet potato might be perennial, the plant market might not offer as many in the spring and I might crash the market. My counsel in Louisiana however, stated yes, we tell consumers they are perennial.Obviously, I have been meddling horticulture humor or buffoonery to this point. The genuine reality is that the decorative sweet potato is the exact same genus and types as the one you eat at the Thanksgiving table. They produce roots just like the edible ranges, though their taste and consistency is not up to culinary standards.So, image that my Sweet Caroline Medusa Green or Illusion Emerald Lace are also producing roots underground. When frost comes, I get rid of the foliage just like vegetable growers do, one because they are awful, and two, we don’t want any diseases entering into the tuber.My plants are growing in very well-drained soil, which certainly is a consider those that return. Throughout the winter season the bulbs and the inactive partner plants like Rockin salvias, Truffula Pink gomphrena and Vermillionaire cuphea are sleeping
waiting for spring temperatures and warm soil.If you have actually grown ornamental sweet potatoes, you understand they are vigorous tourists, with the ability to take a trip 10 to 20 feet. Therefore, you can discover yourself in the management organization. This is the big reason compact or acted ranges like the Sweet Caroline Medusa Green have actually racked up more than 20 awards.The Impression varieties are also award winners and extremely popular in the landscape market. If you do have bulbs, they are generally close in distance to the initial plant and have not sneaked into the rose garden. The Illusion series is including a brand-new color in 2023 called Illusion Cent Lace that is a gorgeous coppery red.Yes, The Garden Man is a decorative sweet potato fan and has been growing them as perennials in zone 8a Georgia for 3 or four years. I am anticipating growing the new climbing up Sugary food Caroline Upside series and the new Illusion Cent Lace.