Solanum

Break out of your morning-glory rut and try something new in the world of vines. Solanum is a relative of the potato and the eggplant and if you look at its flowers, you'll see how. Shorter types are ideal for pots, planters, and windowboxes. Taller types can be trained up trellises. Bloom colors range from white to pale blue to deep purple. Many varieties have striking variegated foliage, so the plants look terrific even when they're not in bloom. While they're treated as annuals in most areas, many solanums are perennials in frost-free areas.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun

Zones:

9-11

Plant Type:

Annual,Shrub

Plant Height:

1-4 feet tall

Plant Width:

1-4 feet wide

Landscape Uses:

Containers,Beds & Borders,Privacy

Special Features:

Flowers,Attractive Foliage,Deer Resistant,Easy to Grow

Top Varieties

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Lychee tomato

(Solanum sisymbriifolium) bears large white flowers flushed with silvery blue and edible, bright-red fruits. The leaves and stems are covered in spines. It grows 3 feet tall. Note: In some areas, this plant has become an invasive pest.
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Naranjilla

(Solanum quitoense) offers large, velvety leaves with purple hairs and orange-yellow spines with fragrant white flowers and fuzzy orange fruit. While it's usually grown as an annual where it grows about 3 feet tall, it is an 8-foot-tall shrub in the tropics.
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Royal Robe nightshade

(Solanum rantonnetii 'Royal Robe') bears rich purple fragrant flowers spring to fall on a plant that can reach 8 feet tall. Often grown as an annual, but it's grown as a shrub in Zones 9-11.
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Plant It With

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Castor Bean

Accent solanum's rich purple flowers against the big, bold leaves of castor bean for a traffic-stopping display.

Licorice plant

Pair purple from solanum's bloom with silver from licorice vine's foliage and you'll have an artistic combo that looks good spring to fall.

Propagation

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Seed
Stem Cuttings