Sweet Potato Jackpot

Jennifer Polanz

Consumers often plant ipomoea for their beautiful foliage, which complements hanging baskets and upright containers nicely. For the first time, however, consumers can also harvest their plants to get delicious sweet potatoes—a sort of 2-for-1 deal—with the new Treasure Island Sweet Potatoes. Represented in North America by Concept Plants, the Treasure Island line features plants that provide colorful foliage and edible potatoes.

It was for this reason that the Direct Gardening Association awarded Treasure Island Sweet Potatoes with its Green Thumb Award for Edible Plants at its Winter Meeting in Orlando.

The line comes from breeding work by the Louisiana State University AgCenter from an original concept development and collaboration work by their partner FitzGerald Nurseries in Ireland. There are five varieties in the collection, all named after Polynesian islands:

Tahiti—Features purple-fleshed roots with purple skin and the green leaves are edible, too.

Tatakoto—Potatoes have purple skin and orange flesh, and foliage has a dark green-purple coloring.

Makatea—Chartreuse-colored, heart-shaped foliage on top and potatoes with white flesh underneath.

Kaukura—Orange skin and flesh for the potatoes, purple heart-shaped leaves for the foliage.

Manihi—Deep purple, maple-leaf foliage sits above potatoes with orange skin and flesh.

Find out more at conceptplants.com. GP