cinammon vine

I heard that cinnamon vine, Dioscorea batatas,  produced edible aerial tubers that could be plucked off and eaten yam-like. I figured great. No digging. There was even an attractive variegated version so I planted it near a trellis and waited. 

Took awhile but it sprouted, grew weakly and disappeared. The following year when I hadn't seen it by the end of May, I figured it wasn't hardy here so I mulched over where it was and grew vining tomatoes. Later in the year, I saw a strange yellow tendril struggle to the light. My yam! I apologized and gave it a few weeks of sun before winter returned. The following year I waited and waited and sometime in June, it made it's appearance. This year, it grew quite well, expressing a nice irregular variation. No aerial tubers though. 

We'll see what 2015 brings (or not).

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