Q: I purchased a hanging pot with the sweet potato vine "Blackie" this season. It is a very cool looking plant. The leaves are such an interesting shape and color. I live in Ohio (Zone 5) and so it will not survive the winter. What is the best way to store it so I can replant it next season?

A: The Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie' can be wintered over indoors. Cut back the water to about once a month and it will go dormant for the witner. Just put the hanging pot back outside after the temps get above the mid 40s to 50.

Q: I recently purchased what I was told was a Potato Vine. I bought it from an individual and I do not know how to contact the lady since it was at a town fund raiser. Afterwards I read that the wilted leaves of the Potato bush or Vine are "deadly poisonous". However, searching on the web for more info on this I identified my plant as a Sweet potato vine, not just a Potato Vine and it looks completely different from the potato vine I saw pictured. I am sure what I bought is a sweet potato vine, blackie. It has the same shape leaves and they are dark purple. The lady I bought it from also told me it has small morning glory like blooms. My question is, is it poisonous? I have a 2 year old and do not want such a poisonous plant around if it is. However, I really like the plant and if it isn't poison I certainly want to plant it in my yard. Thank you for your help.

A: Unfortunately, parts of many plants are poisonous. The Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie' or Sweet Potato Vine is sometimes called Morning Glory. All the plants that I have seen called the Morning Glory are in the Ipomoea species.

My favorite poison plant site is http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html. They have a non-poisonous plant and poisonous plant page (the page is for pets, but poisonous is poisonous). They have the Morning Glory listed as poisonous.

Q: We planted a gorgeous blue morning glory vine the first of the summer on our chain link fence. It seemed healthy and vigorous and was filled with blossoms. Now, however, all the flowers are purple. We did have purple morning glories that kind of sprung up from nowhere along other parts of the fence, but I am really disappointed that my beautiful sky blue flowers seem to have disappeared. What could be the problem?

A: When you had your blue morning glories they indeed were beautiful. These annual plants seed readily but sometimes do not return' true' to the original plant. They have resorted to perhaps the original parts of the hybridization process. To insure the same quality they must be planted each season.

Yet others will not play tricks on you and return as the original.

This is not always a hard and fast rule in all plants.

Sometimes the soil ph has changes and that will affect the color as well as the performance.

Sometimes a plant will just peter out after a few years with lack of great gene quality returning each year. Other may get strong each year in an invasive manner.

My white moon flowers (also a member of the morning glories) did not return at all this year. And I have loads of blooms last year and seeds that either did not germinate or killed in the hard winter.

It is sometimes luck of the draw. Not a very scientific answer, indeed, but flowers change color some of the time for a variety of reasons.

Q: The first year I planted my Morning Glory it took off like wildfire all across my fence. Now it looks awful, there are a lot of dead vines and leaves. Some of it is still blossoming. Should it be taken out each year and new ones put in? Or trimmed back each year?

A: Morning glories are annuals, they do however, reseed themselves readily.........

What you are seeing is last year's growth died off.

It may be a tad early to see the new seeds sprouts, so do not disrupt the ground around the fence area.....

I started some morning glory seeds a few weeks back (Heavenly Blue) and do not intend to put them in the ground 'til a few more weeks. They are up and about 6 inches but even my soil is cool and I live in Zone 8b -9.

Q: I am trying to start a sweet potato plant for ivy, which is working by using the toothpicks and putting the base in water. Roots are forming and the beginning of leaves from the top of the potato which is in water in a sunny window. When I plant it in dirt for a hanging plant, how far should I bury the potato? Or is that what I should do?

Also, I bought 3 different kinds of potatoes at a plant store here in Fort Worth, Texas to start ivy from. The man at the plant shop said just to plant the entire potato in the ground or pot. I'm not sure that seems right. These potatoes look like an Idaho potato, but they were all called different names (other than Idaho). I haven't been able to find anything telling how to plan them to become ivy in a hanging basket.

Can you help me?

A: You are starting the sweet potato perfectly. When transplanting into a good potting soil, plant up to where the roots start to form.

On your other potato planting they may or may not 'sprout' for you. But just putting them in the soil should do the trick. Making sure the "eyes" are in the soil. I have taken regular old potatoes an cut into 3 or 4 pieces, making sure there is an eye in each piece, and planted about 2-3 inches below the soil surface. Water regularly and making sure there is good drainage. I admire your creatively in making potato ivy baskets. What fun.