Sweet potato in a flower box: tips for care and popular combinations with the leaf jewelry plant
Sweet potatoes have long since ceased to be just crops, and now adorn traffic lights and balconies. The hanging plant is perfect for partially shaded and shady locations, is considered to be fairly easy to care for and undemanding and with its country house charm country house charm ensures tension in the flower box. If you like it elegant and extraordinary, you will surely be delighted by an arrangement with sweet potatoes. We explain how you can effectively showcase sweet potatoes in the flower box, what is important for care and which planting partners are suitable.
Sweet potato in a flower box: The useful plant comes from the tropics
The sweet potatoes, still known under the name Ipomoea batatas, come from Central America. The crop was brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in the Middle Ages. Nowadays it is popular for its vitamin-rich and tasty tubers and is still one of the most popular vegetables in parts of South America. In North America it is not only grown as a useful plant in the garden. It also enjoys great popularity as an ornamental plant and cuts a good figure, especially in the window box on the windowsill outside or on the balcony. The “Marguerite” cultivated variety is particularly suitable for hobby gardeners with limited space. It impresses with its bright green foliage and gives the flower box structure. Your shoots reach a maximum height of 60 cm. In any case, they do not grow upright, but protrude beyond the edge of the flower box. Therefore, the Marguerite variety is not only suitable for planting flower boxes, planting flower boxes, but also for hanging baskets. In the flower box she is not a soloist, but rather a team player and can be combined with other leafy perennials as well as with summer flowers.
The leafy ornamental plant is annual and not hardy. It thrives best in a loose, evenly moist and nutrient-rich soil. A sunny or partially shaded location offers the best conditions for their rapid growth. Wind, rain and frost can damage the sensitive exotic species, so the plant should be protected from them. It therefore thrives best on a covered balcony facing east. However, the sweet potatoes cannot tolerate waterlogging, and if the planter is in the shade, there is a risk of rotting. A layer of gravel or expanded clay on the bottom of the flower box can prevent rotting. Since the sweet potatoes are very sensitive to the cold, you can go to the balcony or the windowsill from the end of May, where they can stay all summer.
The planting period begins in early May and ends in late May. Then the tubers are placed in the ground. The leaf jewelry plant is planted similarly to potatoes. The individual plants are placed in the soil at a distance of at least 20 cm from each other. However, only 2 bulbs fit in an 80 cm long flower box. The sweet potatoes prefer substrate for potatoes, but also feel good in potting soil.
As for care, the ornamental plant is fairly straightforward. The biggest challenge in front of the hobby gardener is watering. On the one hand, the soil should never dry out completely in the summer months, but on the other hand, waterlogging can damage the hanging plant. Fertilizer is usually only given when planting, in June, July and August the sweet potato can also do without fertilizer.
The tubers are harvested at the end of summer. They are edible and are considered a delicious alternative to potatoes, but only if the soil and plants in the planter are not treated with harmful preservatives. It is also important that the sweet potatoes are not combined with poisonous plants in a balcony box.
Since the plant is one year old, it is not overwintered. You should plan this carefully when planting, especially if it is combined with perennial flowers and ground cover. In this case, it is worth planning a greater distance from the other plants so that they do not root with the sweet potatoes. Then harvesting the tubers in autumn will prove to be a difficult task.
Sweet potato in a flower box: flowers with geraniums
The gardening season really starts at the beginning of May, because from then on the flower boxes can be planted. Windowsills and balcony railings can hardly wait for the beginning of summer. Even if the location is in the shade, a bloom can move in there. Of course, the sweet potatoes are an effective partner.
- Pink geraniums
- Verbena
- sweet potato
- ivy
In the first great combination of plants, the pink geraniums clearly play the main role. The upright flowers come best in the middle and the hanging plants like sweet potatoes on the edge. The violet flowers of the verbena are part of the charming summer composition.
Our tip: A drainage layer made of expanded clay at the bottom of the flower box offers a good drainage point for the excess rainwater, which both the sweet potatoes and the geraniums do not tolerate well.
Romantic planting partners for shady locations: sweet potato and lucky clover
The next flower box inspires with an unusual but very effective combination. This is where the “Bright Ideas Lime” sweet potatoes with the delicate yellow flowers of the “Zinfandel” lucky clover variety come to the fore. The ground cover and the hanging plant form a very natural looking duo that is extremely easy to care for.
- Sweet potato variety “Bright Ideas Lime”
- Lucky clover variety “Zinfandel”
Summer flowers and leafy ornamental plants for the balcony: room calla and sweet potato in the window box
The yellow room calla, like the sweet potato, is also native to Central America. The beautiful exotic provides optical stimuli in the flower box. The white hydrangeas give the arrangement a touch of romance. The ensemble feels extremely comfortable in sunny and partially shaded locations.
Our tip: For this plant combination you need a flower box at least 100 cm long. Leave a minimum distance of 20 cm between the plants.
- Yellow room calla
- Hydrangeas
- sweet potato
Leaf ornamental plants for shady locations: colored roots, begonias and sweet potatoes form a charming ensemble in the flower box
In the next flower box, leafy ornamental shrubs such as root, red sage, sweet potato and begonias easily join the violet tree, which spices up the tone-on-tone mix with its delicate purple flowers. The lush combination of plants is well suited for the north-facing windowsill. Because most varieties can get by with little sun in the summer months.
- Colored Root, still known as Kaladie, the variety “Red Flash”
- Begonias
- sweet potato
- Red sage
- Dove berry
- Violet tree
Sweet potato in a flower box: a colorful combination for the summer
The begonias in the trend color Corale celebrate their grand entrance in this planter. The sweet potato, the lemon cypresses and the white petunias discreetly fade into the background and leave the stage free for the adorable divas.
- Lemon cypress
- sweet potato
- Coronian begonias
- White petunias
Sweet potato in the balcony box in partial shade
The white petunias and the purple angel face together with the light green leaves of the sweet potatoes bring shine even in shady corners. The lavender roses fill in corners and empty spaces in the flower box with their compact growth and delight with light yellow flowers from mid-summer.
- White petunias
- Purple angel face
- Violet lobelia
- Pale yellow lavender
Exotic plants on the balcony and on the windowsill: sweet potato, snowflake flower and angelonia
What do the snowflake flower, the sweet potato and the angelonia have in common? They are all subtropical plants, with the sweet potato and angelonia from Central America, and the snowflake flower – from Africa. However, the exotic species feel at home in the local flower box in the summer months. The purple fan flower that comes from the subtropical areas of the continent of Australia fits perfectly.
- White snowflake flower
- Purple fan flower
- Dark blue angelonia
- Petunias
Edible crops as eye-catchers in the flower box
Edible crops create an eye-opening effect in the next flower box. As a colorful contrast to the kale, the sweet potato and the dwarf pepper, there are purple chrysanthemums and yellow coneflowers. Purple spring bushes bloom in height and give structure to the flower box edge. It is the perfect ensemble for partially shaded locations.
- Kale
- sweet potato
- Chrysanthemums
- Dwarf pepper
- Feather bush
- Coneflower
No more vegetables – the sweet potato is now also being moved to the balcony and terrace. The hanging plant is now available in several varieties, the “Marguerite” variety impresses with a bright green leaf color and a particularly magnificent growth. The annual hanging plant is planted at the beginning of spring and the tubers are then harvested at the end of summer. The right location is an important prerequisite for its rapid growth – it should be in the shade. The leaf jewelry plant originating from Central America feels at home with other exotic species as well as with native divas.
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