Proven Accents® Illusion® Penny Lace Sweet Potato Vine

The Proven Accents® line of summer annuals offers a wide range of container plants that are both easy to grow and unique. Penny Lace Sweet Potato Vine is a cultivar of the vigorous and low-maintenance Ipomea batatas with finely dissected foliage in a deep chocolate color. This trailing Sweet Potato Vine will mix and mingle well with just about any other container plant while retaining its ability to resist high heat and humidity.

Proven Accents® Illusion® Penny Lace is a great filler or spiller plant for your deck or patio planters, hanging baskets, or window boxes. Sweet Potato Vine is often considered a hot-season annual when it is really a tropical perennial tuber that is cold hardy in USDA zone 11. Use this vine as a quick ground cover on a sunny slope or as a temporary filler in a garden bed to suppress weeds and act as a living mulch. The leaf color and shape of Penny Lace will add an unexpected drama to traditional combinations of Petunias, Calibrachoa, and Alyssum. Try pairing the deep chocolate color with bright acid green or yellow tones for a modern color combination that stays fresh all summer.  

Proven Accents® Illusion® Penny Lace Sweet Potato Vine Care

All Sweet Potato Vines require excellent drainage, whether planted in a container or the ground. An all-purpose potting mix with coco coir or perlite added will be lightweight and free draining. Add organic compost to the soil when planting in the garden to lighten heavy soil or make sandy soil more moisture retentive. Penny Lace will best retain its deep coloring in a sunny location with at least 6 hours of full sun. A shadier spot will make the plant produce leaves with a greenish cast. Fertilizing is unnecessary for Sweet Potato Vines, although they may be planted with other plants requiring regular fertilizing. Feed the containers once every two weeks with a diluted liquid fertilizer such as fish or seaweed emulsion. Penny Lace is a vigorous grower and may need cutting back to keep the overall shape of a hanging basket or planter in scale with the other plants. Cutting the stems back to just above a set of leaf nodes will keep the plant tidy without revealing any naked stems.

Sweet Potato vines can be treated as houseplants for overwintering outside their hardiness zones. Bring the plant indoors when the nighttime temperatures fall to 55 degrees F and place the pot in a full sun location. A south-facing window is ideal. Grow lights can also be used to provide supplemental lighting. Alternatively, Sweet Potato Vine is a tuber that can be easily overwintered in a frost-free garage or basement. Cut the top growth back to 4-6 inches above the soil and place it in a dark spot that does not get below 50 degrees F in the winter. Water sparingly, allowing the soil to dry between waterings. When the warm, late spring weather arrives, bring the container out to a semi-shaded spot and resume regular watering as the new shoots emerge.

Proven Accents® Illusion® Penny Lace Sweet Potato Vine Spacing

The natural growth habit of the Sweet Potato Vine is slightly mounded and vigorously trailing. Penny Lace will have a maximum height of 10-12 inches with a spread of 3 feet or more. In the garden, space each plant 18-24 inches apart to provide quick and thick ground cover. Allow plenty of space in a container or hanging basket for the root system to form normally. Place up to three plants in a 12-inch diameter container.

Proven Accents® Illusion® Penny Lace Sweet Potato Vine Information