Sweet Caroline Medusa™ Black Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine

Dramatic Black Foliage with a Unique Mounded Habit

Elevate your garden or container displays with Sweet Caroline Medusa™ Black (Ipomoea batatas), an award-winning ornamental sweet potato vine known for its striking purple-black, palm-shaped foliage. Unlike traditional trailing sweet potato vines, this unique cultivar grows in a full, mounded habit, with overlapping leaves creating a dramatic, fern-like effect.

Sweet Caroline Medusa™ Black is heat tolerant, vigorous, and low-maintenance, thriving across North America in both landscapes and containers. Its bold foliage provides fall interest and year-round visual appeal, while requiring minimal care—no trimming or deadheading needed.

Key Features & Benefits

• Unique, palm-shaped purple-black foliage for striking garden color

• Mounded habit resembling a Boston fern, ideal for containers and landscapes

• Heat tolerant and low-maintenance; deadheading not necessary

• Award-winning variety with excellent fall interest

• Perfect for containers, mass plantings, groundcover, or landscape accents

Plant Details

• Botanical Name: Ipomoea batatas

• Plant Type: Annual

• Height: 6–12 inches (15–30 cm)

• Spread: 18–30 inches (46–76 cm)

• Trailing/Spreading Habit: Trails up to 30 inches (76 cm)

• Spacing: 12–18 inches (30–46 cm)

• Container Role: Filler

Foliage

• Foliage Color: Black

• Foliage Shade: Purple-black

• Bloom Time: Grown for foliage

Growing Requirements

• Light: Full Sun to Part Sun

• Water Needs: Average; well-drained soil recommended

• Maintenance: Easy

• Hardiness Zones: 11a–11b

• Best Uses: Container displays, mass plantings, groundcover, landscape accents