Thanksgiving began in Massachusetts as the pilgrims and the Native Americans gathered to celebrate a year of survival. Massachusetts had a weather pattern similar to ours, with short summers and long, very cold winters. The first Thanksgiving included venison, wild turkey (possibly) pumpkins and an assortment of New England dishes, but it did not include sweet potatoes. It is ironic that this Southern-grown vegetable has taken such a stellar place on the Thanksgiving table considering it was unknown in Massachusetts in the 1600s.

Nevertheless, the deep orange tubers -- and their cousins the light-fleshed yellow ones -- have become a fixed part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Just as ironic, sweet potatoes originated in the Americas and made their way back to Europe with early explorers and then back to the United States with settlers. What is more, these American-born sweet potatoes are often called by the wrong name: yams. Yams are a different vegetable altogether and are native to southeast Asia and similar tropical climes. The real yams, dioscorea, do not even grow in the United States, although they are edible and a popular dish in other parts of the world.

The true yams grow as a vine from a very large tuber. The tuber is a membranous, three-winged capsule rich in starch. The most commonly cultivated yam grows up to 3 feet long and weighs 25 or more pounds. The southeast Asia species of yam grows up to 8 feet long and weighs up to 100 pounds. Sounds like a great food for a community feast.

Sweet potatoes, on the other hand are a sought-after food in the U.S., particularly in the Southern states. The best sweet potato country in the nation lies across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and North and South Carolinas. Texas, California and the Ohio Valley also grow sweet potatoes. Georgia is the leading sweet potato state.

George Washington Carver, famous for finding thousands of uses for the peanut, also developed 118 products using sweet potatoes. The vegetable is very nutritious containing ample quantities of carbohydrates and vitamins A and C. Besides human consumption, tons are raised for animal feed, used either as a fresh product or shredded and dried.

Sweet potatoes are related neither to the white potato nor to the yam. It is a perennial trailing herb of the same plant family as the decorative morning glory or moon vine, Ipomoea batatas.

I do know a few intrepid gardeners in our area who raise sweet potatoes and have harvested respectable sized tubers from their crops, but the yields are nothing like those in the South. Our growing season is simply not long enough. Those who are successful generally extend the season by planting these plants in pots indoors until the weather is right to set them out.

Another sweet potato relative, I. pandurata, is known as sweet-potato vine, manroot or man-of-the-earth. It is cultivated as an ornamental in the eastern U.S. It provides the starch for laundry starch, sizing textiles and papers, and in the manufacture of adhesives.

In recent years, the green industry has developed some beautiful ornamental sweet potatoes. The vines produce heart-shaped leaves in a variety of eye-catching colors from bright yellow green to purple to variegated colors between. These are excellent additions to the flower bed.

They are particularly striking in container gardens where the masses of colored foliage spill out of the container and cascade over the side. You may have seen some of these plants in the container gardens surrounding the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City.

Look for three different types. The cultivar 'Blackie' has dark foliage. 'Margarita' is a bright chartreuse green/yellow, and 'Tricolor' is white, green, and pink. These are vines that do well hanging down in containers, or as a ground cover. They grow best in full sun and will extend to 6 feet long. Although the vines are not as long as some others, they are very full and robust.