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'Sweet Caroline Light Green' Sweet Potato Vine Ipomoea batatas

Flower Season
  • Spring
  • Summer
Mature Size
16" 4' 41cm 1.2m
Height: 6" - 16"
Spread: 3' - 4'
Height: 15cm - 41cm
Spread: 91cm - 1.2m
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Top Seller
  • Details

    6 - 16 Inches
    10 - 12 Inches
    36 - 48 Inches
    15cm - 41cm
    25cm - 30cm
    91cm - 1.2m

    Features

    Great foliage component plant in combinations; excellent heat tolerance and vigor

    Best Seller
    Award Winner
    Foliage Interest
    Heat Tolerant
    Deadheading Not Necessary

    Characteristics

    Plant Type: 
    Annual
    Height Category: 
    Short
    Garden Height: 
    6 - 16 Inches 15cm - 41cm
    Trails Up To: 
    60 Inches 1.5m
    Spacing: 
    10 - 12 Inches 25cm - 30cm
    Spread: 
    36 - 48 Inches 91cm - 1.2m
    Flower Shade: 
    None
    Foliage Colors: 
    Green
    Foliage Colors: 
    Yellow
    Foliage Shade: 
    Chartreuse
    Habit: 
    Trailing
    Container Role: 
    Spiller

    Plant Needs

    Light Requirement: 
    Part Sun to Sun

    The optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).

    Maintenance Category: 
    Easy
    Bloom Time: 
    Grown for Foliage
    Hardiness Zones: 
    11a, 11b
    Water Category: 
    Average
    Soil Fertility Requirement: 
    Average Soil
    Uses: 
    Container
    Uses: 
    Landscape
    Uses: 
    Mass Planting
    Uses Notes: 

    Works great in landscapes as an annual ground cover, as well as in combinations and containers by themselves.  The plant is very adaptable, working in both sun and shade conditions, atlhough the colors are deeper and brighter in full sun than they are in shadier environments where colors are tinged with more green.

    Maintenance Notes: 

    Ipomoeas are great additions to combination planters, but they can sometimes overwhelm less vigorous plants. If you are like me you can let your combination plants duke it out Darwinian style, however, if you prefer to keep a more balanced look to your combination planters, you can cut back or remove stems at any time.

    Ipomoeas also make great annual groundcovers in the landscape. They love the heat and humidity (growing up to 36" a week in the Deep South), cooler temperatures and low humidity cause them to stay more compact.

    While Sweet Potatoes all come from the same parent material out of Southeast Asia, there is a big difference between the Sweet Potato you buy in the store and the tubers produced by the Sweet Caroline and the Illusion plants. Commercial sweet potatoes have been bred for over 100 years selecting for those with the best sugar to starch content (hence the name SWEET Potato), the ornamental have been bred to produce good leaves and no tubers, though they do form, they are composed of almost pure starch and no sugar; making them a poor choice for eating. So yes you can eat the tubers, but don't expect anyone to come back for seconds! Also always be careful when eating any ornamental plant unless you know how it was grown, and if pesticides or fungicides were used on it before you got it; a tuber is a storage root, and yes they store chemical as well as starch.

    An application of fertilizer or compost on garden beds and regular fertilization of plants in pots will help ensure the best possible performance.

    "A Real Simple magazine Top 10 goofproof Plant"

    'Sweet Caroline Light Green' Ipomoea batatas USPP 15,028, Can 2,975
  • 13 Reviews

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    7
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    Browse reviews from people who have grown this plant.
    • This plant performs wonderfully in containers, will get again next year!

      MH
      , Iowa
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • I buy this plant every year. It never disappoints!!!; Excellent planted in ground for a pop of color and interest although you need to trim to keep from taking over. Gorgeous in flower box to fill in and spill out around other annuals. Its a staple every year and I honestly do have the best yard on the block!! Not bragging just stating fact.

      Marie McGhee
      , Michigan
      , United States
      , 4 years ago
    • Grows well in a sunny window as an indoor plant. Very colorful and hardy.

      Kathy Gannon
      , Arizona
      , United States
      , 11 years ago
    • Great plant for containers! Lovely lime color that goes all summer long!!

      debbie
      , Connecticut
      , United States
      , 11 years ago
    • THIS PLANT LOOKS GOOD WITH ALMOST ANY PLANT. IT GROWS SO FAST YOU HAVE TO KEEP CUTTING IT BACK OR IT TAKES OVER. WON'T STOP ME FROM USING IT WITH ABOUT EVERY THING I PLANT.

      LOUISE HEMPHILL
      , Iowa
      , United States
      , 11 years ago
    • Lynne Roskam
      , 13 years ago
    • good grower, lots of leaves and low maintence

      Susan Lalo
      , Pennsylvania
      , United States
      , 13 years ago
    • Very beautiful and full!

      Karen Smith
      , Massachusetts
      , United States
      , 13 years ago
    • This plant did beautifully in my hanging baskets even with the scorching heatwaves of this summer

      Julie Rocco
      , Ontario
      , Canada
      , 13 years ago
    • Wow, It needs a warning: plant with other fast, healthy growers because plants can get swallowed. I was beautiful with peach geraniums before it grew over the top. I really loved it, though. I still had a dark grass in the middle. PRETTY COMBO!

      Judih Carr
      , Michigan
      , United States
      , 13 years ago
  • 48 Awards

    Award Year Award Plant Trial
    2020 Top Performer Ohio State University Chadwick Arboretum - Springfield
    2020 Perfect Score - Early Season - Michigan State University
    2020 Top Performer - Mid Season Michigan State University
    2020 Top Performer - Container University of Minnesota - Morris
    2020 Top Performer - Final Michigan State University
    2020 Top Performer - In Ground University of Minnesota - Grand Rapids
    2020 Director's Select - Sun Penn State University
    2020 Top Performer University of Delaware
    2020 Top Performer - Hanging Baskets University of Minnesota - Grand Rapids
    2011 Best of Species Penn State University
  • 23 Recipes

  • 1 Video

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