Groundnut/Hopniss (Apios americana) - Great flowers - Edible tubers

The groundnut is a fascinating tuberous plant from North America with versatile qualities. A fast-growing climber that enriches both the garden and the kitchen. Completely hardy and easy to care for!

Scope of delivery: Plant in a 9cm pot. Currently still in winter dormancy.

Growth & Appearance

• Lifespan: Perennial, frost-hardy herbaceous climber.

• Height: As a vigorous climbing plant, it easily ascends 2 to 3 meters (sometimes even higher) up trellises or fences.

• Habit: This legume impresses with attractive, pinnate foliage and dense growth. In autumn, the plant completely dies back above ground.

• Bloom & Fruit: From July to September, beautiful, dense flower clusters appear in velvety purple to reddish-brown tones. A great bonus: the flowers emit a wonderful, intense fragrance (often described as a mix of violet and chocolate)! Underground, edible tubers develop, strung together like a string of pearls.

Origin As the name suggests, Apios americana originates from eastern North America. There, it prefers to grow in damp forests, along riverbanks, and in thickets.

Nutritional Content The tubers are true powerhouses! They have three times the protein content of conventional potatoes. Furthermore, they are very rich in calcium, iron, and valuable carbohydrates.

Usage

• In the kitchen: A fantastic, nutritious root vegetable! Important: The tubers must not be eaten raw (as is typical for legumes). However, boiled, roasted, or fried, they are a delicacy. Their taste is sweet and nutty – like a fine mixture of chestnut, sweet potato, and regular potato.

• In the garden: A lightning-fast, flowering privacy screen for fences, pergolas, or obelisks in the summer.

• Soil improver: As a legume, it lives in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria at its roots, enriching the soil naturally with nitrogen.

History The "Hopniss" (the name used by indigenous peoples) was for centuries one of the most important staple foods for Native Americans. Later, this very plant saved the lives of the first European settlers (the Pilgrims) in New England when they had to survive their first harsh winters and learned from the indigenous people how to harvest these nutritious tubers.

Curiosities Harvesting this plant is a real experience! When you dig, you don't find loose potatoes; rather, you literally pull an entire "root sausage" from the earth. The tubers grow strung together one after another on long strands through the soil – just like a string of pearls.

Location, Care & Harvest

• Location: Sun to partial shade. The base of the plant likes to be somewhat shaded and cool (similar to clematis).

• Soil: Humus-rich, nutrient-rich, and preferably a bit moist. The looser the soil, the easier it will be for you to harvest the long chains of tubers later!

• Climbing support: It does not climb on smooth walls by itself; it needs strings, trellises, wire mesh fences, or stakes to wrap around.

• Harvest time: Ready for harvest in early winter (starting around November), after the plant has withered. You can harvest only as much as you need at the time and simply leave the rest in the ground as "seed" for the next year.