| Description | This section contains pictures of Coleus that were developed to grow in full sun. |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | (sol-en-oh-STEM-on)(skew-tell-ar-ee-OH-ih-deez) |
| Plant Type | All Plants, Perennial Tender |
| Sunlight | full to partial sun |
| Moisture | Coleus is a rapid growing plant and will quickly fill out a flower pot with foliage and a mass of roots. At this point they need to be kept evenly moist. Although a little wilting doesn’t seem to hurt the plant, continual wilting will certainly cause leaf damage in the long run. In the flower bed the roots have a large area to draw moisture from and average moisture should suffice. |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Growing Media | average patio |
| Temperature | Not a good plant to set out in the garden when it is still cool. Memorial Day weekend or later is a good starting point (zone #5). One of the first plants to succumb to a frost. |
| Flowers | Small blue flowers on a thin stem that may branch They are not of ornamental value and are usually cut off. The main purpose of growing this plant is the foliage. |
| Leaves | Coleus has extraordinary foliage color and a plethora of leaf patterns. Colors in the leaves can be red, orange, bronze, pink, green, white, chartreuse, gold, burgundy, yellow, and etcetera. Patterns can be striped, blotched, splashed, streaked, solid, etcetera |
| Dimensions | Any where from 18-30 plus inches tall. |
| Maintenance | Many of the newer cultivars will remain compact and only a little pruning will be needed. The main chore of this plant is to completely cut off the flower stalk. Some varieties are prolific bloomers and pruning is a continual task. |
| Propagation | One of the easiest plants to root from a cutting. Seeds are small and slow to reach transplanting size. The seedlings first set of leaf-like structures will be green, these are not true leaves but cotyledons (seed leaves). The first set of true leaves will exhibit the color of the plant. |
| Misc Facts | (syn Coleus blumei) |
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