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Sweet Potato Vine
Ipomoea batatas
Also called sweetpotato vine
Sweet Potato Vine is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Sweet Potato Vine
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 9–11. Expect it to reach about 0.5 ft tall and 2.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 1 year (not yet checked).
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant. The bloom months and water need on this page were not, and each fact above says which. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Sweet Potato Vine
Wait until all danger of frost has passed, then plant out Sweet Potato Vine into warm soil; in most zones that means late spring.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 9, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 9 in February. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Sweet Potato Vine get?
0.5 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult2.5 ftwideSee Sweet Potato Vine in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Sweet Potato Vine
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Sweet Potato Vine about 2.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Sweet Potato Vine to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Sweet Potato Vine's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags were checked against 13 published sources on July 30, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- asu.eduArizona State University, Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert (Ipo...height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, years to mature size and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionIpomoea batatasheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, years to mature size and trait tags
- Missouri Botanical GardenIpomoea batatasheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- Missouri Botanical GardenIpomoea batatas 'NCORNSP-021SHJB' SWEET CAROLINE SWEETHEART JET BLACKheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- Missouri Botanical GardenIpomoea batatas SWEET CAROLINE BEWITCHED GREEN WITH ENVYheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- Missouri Botanical GardenIpomoea batatas 'Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime'height, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Society, RHS Plant Profile (Ipomoea batatas)height, spread, sun and years to mature size
- Clemson Home and Garden Information CenterHow To Grow and Care for Ornamental Sweetpotato Vinesun and trait tags
- University of Florida IFASUF/IFAS Extension Gardening Solutions (Ornamental Sweet Potato)sun and trait tags
- University of Florida IFASUF/IFAS Extension Nassau County (Fact Sheet: Sweet Potato Vine)sun and trait tags
- University of Illinois ExtensionSweet Potato, Ornamentalheight and sun
- University of Illinois ExtensionSweet Potato Vineheight and trait tags
- umass.eduUMass Extension Greenhouse Crops and Floriculture Program (Ornamental...sun
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Comes in 4 varieties
Same plant, same care - pick the variety you are growing.
Compare every variety in the Sweet Potato Vine group
Every figure is the variety's own page fact. Tap a name to open it.
| Variety | Color | Blooms | Hardiness | Sun | Size (H × W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackie | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 9–11 | Full sun | 0.5 ft × 3.5 ft |
| Margarita | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 9–11 | Full sun | 0.5 ft × 3.5 ft |
| Sweet Caroline Bronze | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 9–11 | Full sun | 0.5 ft × 2.5 ft |
| Sweet Potatothis page | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 9–11 | Full sun | 0.5 ft × 2.5 ft |
| Tricolor | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 9–11 | Full sun | 0.5 ft × 2.5 ft |
Good to know about Sweet Potato Vine
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note. A note reports what its source says; where that differs from a fact above, the fact above is this entry's stored value, and its mark says whether it has been checked.
Worth knowing
It is the same species as the edible sweet potato and is non-toxic. Its 'poisonous' reputation comes from confusing it with true morning glories, whose seeds carry ergot alkaloids. per NC State and PNAS
How far it spreads
One report calls it a 0.9 to 1.5 m groundcover clump; another gives 2.4 to 3 m trailing stems. They measure different habits, so plan for a wide range. per NC State and Missouri Botanical Garden
Grown for bold foliage
Grown for its bold heart-shaped leaves in chartreuse-lime, purple-black, bronze, or white-pink variegated forms, not for flowers. It rarely blooms. per NC State
Overwintering the roots
Frost kills the top growth, but underground it forms fleshy storage roots. Dig them before frost and keep them cool and dry, or root cuttings indoors. per NC State
Watch for leaf beetles
Tortoise beetles and sweetpotato flea beetles chew small holes and grooves in the leaves. On vigorous, established plants the damage is usually just cosmetic. per NC State
Fast, drought-tolerant spiller
A tough, fast trailing spiller for container edges, hanging baskets, and quick groundcover. Drought-tolerant once established, but it grows most vividly in full sun. per Missouri Botanical Garden
What pairs well with Sweet Potato Vine
Good companions share its growing conditions and add something it lacks: an earlier or later bloom, a lower carpet in front, or structure through winter.
Boxwood
Shares full sun and moderate water; taller at 4 ft, for the layer behind it; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter.
Sneezeweed
Shares full sun and moderate water; taller at 3.5 ft, for the layer behind it; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Perennial Sunflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; stands well above at 5 ft, a canopy to plant beneath; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Joe Pye Weed
Shares full sun and moderate to high water; stands well above at 6 ft, a canopy to plant beneath; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Feather Reed Grass
Shares full sun and moderate water; stands well above at 5 ft, a canopy to plant beneath; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Little Bluestem
Shares full sun and low to moderate water; taller at 3.5 ft, for the layer behind it; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Fountain Grass
Shares full sun and low to moderate water; taller at 3.5 ft, for the layer behind it; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Gardenia
Takes full sun to part sun and moderate to high water; taller at 4 ft, for the layer behind it; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter.
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