Plants for Spring 2019 Shipping
Your order placed now will be collected, carefully packaged and shipped as bare root plants in the early spring when the ground has thawed but the plants haven’t started actively growing. For our climate this is normally sometime between later March and mid-April… We’ll email you shipping confirmation and tracking details as soon as they ship!
TIP: Use the tags above to help filter our offerings by characteristic (ie. click on ‘fruit’ to find any fruit bearing plants we offer, etc.) As we add more and more it is a helpful way to find a plant to fit your goals…
Air Potato
Air Potato
Dioscorea Batatas (or Polystachya)
We offer an Air Potato hardy enough to handle our Zone 5B winters but not nearly as mega aggressive as the southern Air Potato of infamous note. This is 'Batatas' not 'Bulbifera'. This perennial, beautiful vine will emerge late spring and gently wind itself like a tropical snake up whatever it can climb. Topping out to 9' to 12' in our experience. Absolutely beautiful vine...
Along the vine will be a ton of small pea sized 'air potatoes' you can harvest and cook without having to wash or process. They are like a potato and an okra mixed. Crazy!
Meanwhile, down below ground, a massive taprooted tuber works ever deeper into the earth. We've yet to dig up a beast to see what it's like, the aerial parts have kept us fascinated enough so far!
Please be aware that in mild zone 5B winters we see a fair bit of expansion and re-seeding. Warmer than zone 5B and this plant could easily be considered a vining nuisance. Please be cautious!
This order will provide you with 10+ seeds you can plant fall or spring or a 1 year old rooted plant you can set out for faster establishment (depending on availability). We offer discount options for larger numbers.
Size:
Twining vine to 9' or higher
Site Preference:
Seems to like a lot of sun, but can do it in the partial shade as well
Hardiness:
Zone 4