First attempt at sweet potatoes, fall roses

One advantage of possibly boring people to tears with tales of my garden and also of celebrating as many events as possible there is that people are likely to give you garden-related gifts when they visit. At a barbecue last June a friend of mine presented me with a very pretty small potted green plant, reminiscent of a morning glory, with a label identifying it to my surprise as a sweet potato (Ipomea batata), with no further information on the cultivar. The label said it would grow into a 40 cm high bushy plant.

I was intrigued, as I had never considered planting sweet potatoes and knew nothing about growing them. Wary as always of slug danger when trying out new plants, I decided to plant it on the roof deck in a large pot, where it quickly developed long trailing vines that willingly climbed the offered trellis.

The instruction card said to harvest the entire plant at once in September or October before frost sets in, so yesterday I did so. Here's what I got:

I'm so excited! I may have harvested too soon, I think, because so many of the tubers are so small. It looks like the kind I have are white-fleshed. The largest one weighs 300 g (about 10 oz.). I'm planning to store some of them over the winter and plant them in the spring. They are such pretty plants that I'm happy to have them on the deck, but will at least try a plant in the garden next year. I'm saving them to eat with my middle son next time he visits, since he and I are the sweet potato lovers in the family.

And to finish this post, here are some photos of the still beautiful roses in our garden. Even in cases where the plants are almost devoid of leaves due to black spot, they continue to produce lovely blooms even in October. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of these beauties, since I inherited them from the previous allotment owners, to whom I am very grateful.