Coleus Plant

Coleus plant is a popular choice of many gardeners for planting indoors as well as outdoors. The main attraction of Coleus is its interesting, refreshingly colorful leaves and there is a wide range of varieties to choose from.

Coleus Varieties

The color of its foliage varies from light yellowish, green and pink to deep and dark red, purple and even purplish-black. You can also find chartreuse and orange Coleus varieties.

The texture of the leaves is different depending on the variety. Having a wide range of colors, Coleus will add a nice ornamental touch to your garden, especially in the periods when your flowering plants are not in bloom.

If you choose to grow Coleus indoors, make sure the plant gets enough bright light.

If planted outside, depending on personal preferences of a gardener and the way the plant is grown, Coleus can resemble a tree or, on the contrary, a compact bush.

The height of this plant ranges from six to thirty six inches. You can place Coleus plants in a flower bed, or to line up the borders, or to keep them in containers. In any case you will be able to enjoy the fine beauty of their foliage from spring time up to fall months.

These days the plant is cultivated all over the world, but originally it is native to Africa and the southeastern regions of Asia. This means that Coleus, in spite of being quite hardy, prefers the warm weather conditions.

Soil

Coleus plants require good, rich soils to demonstrate their best, but just average soil will be quite sufficient. Coleus prefers being watered regularly, and you should keep the soil moist, as the plant has a tendency to droop quickly if it gets too dry. Also, remember to fertilize the soil.

How to grow

The plants are rather shade loving, but at the same time they need bright light. So, make sure they are in shade in the hottest part of the day, but not deprived of the sunlight completely. To encourage the growth of the leaves, it is highly recommended to cut off the flowers at regular intervals, as they are not particularly attractive.

Propagation

It is possible to grow this plant from seeds, but as with many other decorative plants, this method is not that popular.

Usually it is a longer process to grow a plant form a seed, and the final results are not very satisfactory.

What I want to say is that a new plant, grown from seed, does not always resemble the original plant.

It concerns its height and characteristics of foliage. It is preferable to grow new plants from cuttings of the original.

This method works for many plants, and the biggest advantage of it is that the new plant replicates the colors and other features of the old one.

In case of Coleus, remember that it is an annual, that is why it is better to take the cuttings before the beginning of frost.

Grow them inside over the winter period and plant in the garden in early spring. New cuttings usually fill the pots with their roots very quickly.

There are no special requirements for transplanting Coleus plants, just take them out from the pots and place into the soil of your garden. Then get ready to enjoy the brightness of color for many months to come.

To sum up

Coleus will provide season long color and texture to your shade garden. There are many varieties to choose from so you won't become bored. They have beautiful colors; red, pink, chartreuse, green and orange. Their texture is varied.

Colues plant will grow 6 to 36 inches tall. Whether you plant them in a bed, border, container or window box, they show breath-taking color Spring through to Fall.

Coleus plant is easy to propagate by taking cuttings and growing them indoors over the winter. This plant is an annual in most of the country, so you'll want to take your cuttings before the first frost.

Photos of Coleus Plant

Here are some examples of coleus plants for your shade garden.

Click here to see coleus varieties

From Coleus Plant Back to Shade Garden Plants

Back to Shade Gardens Ideas and Plan