Sweet potato vine Sidekick Black Heart

* Common name: Ornamental sweet potato vine Sidekick Black Heart

* Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas Sidekick Black Heart

* What it is: A vining annual that’s actually an edible sweet potato (just not very tasty) that’s grown as an ornamental, mostly in pots and hanging baskets. This variety has large, heart-shaped rosy-black foliage that can deepen to a dark green/black color in sun in summer. Has a trailing habit.

Sweet Caroline Bewitched is a similar variety that’s also very good.

* Size: 6-8 inches tall but can “billow” and easily reach out 3 to 4 feet by end of summer.

* Where to use: Hanging baskets, window boxes, large pots or in the ground where there’s plenty of room to sprawl. Full sun to nearly full shade (although color will be greener in less light).

* Care: Plant mid May through June. Check daily for water in pots and baskets; leaves will wilt in dry soil. Add timed-release balanced fertilizer to soil at planting, then in-season fertilizer usually not needed. Yank and compost when finally browns out at end of fall. Japanese beetles may eat leaves in early summer, but plants typically recover nicely once beetles are gone.

* Great partner: Yellow or golden lantana, marigolds, celosia, coleus and/or ‘Profusion Apricot’ or ‘Zahara Yellow’ zinnias are good annual-flower partners. Red and orange annuals are also good color matches.