One of the funnest things about gardening is that you often find things that surprise you. Sometimes they are bad (like pests) and sometimes they are simply pleasant.

Two weeks ago, I discovered that there is a sweet potato growing in my raised garden – a volunteer. Its vines are growing all over the raised bed. It must have stayed behind from last year’s harvest – a pleasant surprise.

A couple of days ago, I discovered that it actually grew flowers. See below picture:

For a tuber plant like the sweet potato, flowers are almost redundant because most people grow them out of “slips” or slices from the “eyes” of the potato. But I like the way it adds the white and purple color to my raised bed.

There are just a couple of months left before the weather gets too cold and the day gets too short to grow something like a sweet potato. But I probably keep it as long as I could. The potato leaves makes a healthy green sauteed dish too.

Sweet!