That will be plenty of sun in your area. In fact, mine tends to wilt a lot in summer heat even when kept in the shade. It revives quickly with water, but watch it to make sure that's not too much sun especially in July and August. I have had a few burned leaves in full summer sun. The variegated sweet potato vine is a little less affected by both heat and cold than the green or black.

Good questions! As long as you keep some vines alive and healthy until spring, you can use the rooted tips as slips. The challenge is avoiding indoor pests like spider mites and whiteflies. For this reason I would limit how much vegetation you have growing, keeping in mind that whatever roots are present now will be in very bad shape by planting time in late spring. I suggest propagating your stock now, by rooting a fresh crop of stem tips in water, and then potting up some of those plants in late winter. They will grow into lush little plants that can be sunk into a bucket of sand when the weather warms in late spring, forming the foundation stock for your sweet potato slip nursery. Hope this helps.

Hi Trolip and all, Very nice! I really like the ornamental sweet potatoes too. I love growing them for their wonderful foliage. I think I have seven different cultivars now and really enjoy all of them. Like you, I always take cuttings in autumn to carry over indoors as insurance, though most years (this one included) mine outside survive just fine. I love how yours really brightens up that area. Really nice design. Thanks for sharing more of your beautiful garden. Take care, Grant Here is a link that might be useful: 'Ivory Jewel' variegated ornamental sweet potato

Both the purple and chartreuse are good ground covers in 8b/9a. Chartreuse is more vigorous. They die back every winter. Usually they come back in spring, but in unusually cold years they may die completely. They do not take over the way they do in S. Florida. I didn't realize it until mine had overwintered, but they bloom in spring. Just a few blooms here and there, which look like small purple morning glories. The purple blooms a lot more for me than the chartreuse does. The blooms aren't worth planting them for, but they are a nice little bonus for a few weeks in late spring. Whether they will choke out what you have in the bed already depends on what's planted there. If your other plants hold their foliage above the sweet potatoes and have reasonably strong root systems, no problem. But they would definitely overrun 12" or smaller plants. It's not so much that the roots would choke them out as they would just grow right over them and shade them out. By the way, although the purple is happier in partial shade, it will tolerate full sun IF given regular water. (Caveat: this may not be true in S. Florida.) Chartreuse will tolerate partial shade, but may be less vigorous than if grown in full sun. So you can plant them together for the color contrast, in either full sun or partial shade - they are lovely paired up.