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Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’ (Sweet potato vine)

Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’ Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Proven Winners

(Based on 2 user reviews)

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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Botanical Name: Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’ eye-poe-MEE-ah bah-TAY-tas Common Name: Sweet potato vine Genus: Ipomoea
This tender tuberous perennial with heart-shaped, lobed, almost black leaves bears trumpet-shaped lavender to pale purple flowers. It is excellent in containers or weaving among other plants in beds and borders.
Noteworthy characteristics: Seeds are highly toxic if ingested.
Care: Grow in moderately fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. Shelter from cold, drying winds. Provide support or use as a groundcover. 'Blackie' is usually grown as an annual.
Propagation: Sow seed in spring after chipping them or soaking them in water for 24 hours. Root softwood cuttings in spring or summer, or semi-ripe cuttings in summer.
Problems: White blister, rust, fungal leaf spots, stem rot, thread blight, charcoal rot, and wilt.
Growth Habit Runs
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Full Sun Only
Moisture Adaptable
Characteristics Showy Foliage
Bloom Time Fall; Summer
Flower Color Red Flower
Uses Beds and Borders, Ground Covers, Poisonous, Suitable as Annual, Trellis
Seasonal Interest Summer Interest
Type Vines

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