Q: How big does an ornamental sweet potato grow? I have a Blackie sweet potato planted in a large pot and it must cover 30 square feet of my deck!

A: Any gardener who has grown sweet potatoes knows that they are not a shy and timid plant. We are lucky that sweet potatoes are only annuals in Georgia or we would have another rival for kudzu!

A garden sweet potato uses its considerable area of foliage to gather the sunshine that makes for large underground tubers. Ornamental sweet potatoes generate only minuscule tubers so they must direct all of their energy into their vines. Other than in neighborhood conversation, there is no national registry for large ornamental plants.

One Atlanta garden writer owns a ‘Margarite’ sweet potato which has climbed up a three foot picket fence, cascaded down the other side, crawled down a five foot bank and seems headed for the street.

Keep your feet moving when you walk past your plant!