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Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine

Ipomoea batatas 'Sidekick Black Heart'

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Sidekick Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Sidekick Black Heart') at Dutch Growers Garden Centre

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine foliage

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine foliage

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Sidekick Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Sidekick Black Heart') at Dutch Growers Garden Centre

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Height:  8 inches

Spread:  3 feet

Sunlight:  full sun  partial shade 

Hardiness Zone:  (annual)

Description:

Very durable foliage for all-season color and texture; cascades beautifully from baskets and containers from spring to frost; heat tolerant; plant with contrasting colors for a great display

Ornamental Features

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine is primarily valued in the garden for its spreading and trailing habit of growth. Its attractive heart-shaped leaves remain deep purple in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine is a dense herbaceous annual with a trailing habit of growth, eventually spilling over the edges of hanging baskets and containers. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant. The flowers of this plant may actually detract from its ornamental features, so they can be removed as they appear. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine is recommended for the following landscape applications;

  • General Garden Use
  • Groundcover
  • Container Planting
  • Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Sidekick™ Black Heart Sweet Potato Vine is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Because of its trailing habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

 
 
Hardiness Zone Plant Height Minimum Sunlight
Characteristics
Garden  Groundcover  Container  Basket 
Applications
Foliage Color  Texture  Plant Form 
Ornamental Features