Want a bit of summertime color around your house or apartment, but don’t have the time or inclination to care for roses or other flowering plants?  The coleus may be right for you!

 

Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides) is a member of the mint family native to southeast Asia down through Queensland, Australia.  As with most mints, coleus have mostly square stems with the leaves on the opposite sides of the stem from each other.  Unlike most ornamentals grown in North America, coleus are cultivated for their foliage, not their flowers.  While in nature the plant is varying shades of green, a century of propagation has developed some eye-popping color variants.

Dragon Heart

I had been aware of the plant for some time as subcommandante of the local Black Thumb Society. Frustrated by years of killing plants whether they needed it or not, I endeavored to find something that was so hardy that even I couldn’t arrange for its demise.  These last few years, I’ve been buying from the local college’s Environmental Horticulture Graduate Student Association (motto: You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think), which has a sale every March to raise funds for educational conferences and scholarships.  All the photos in this article are plants from this year’s sale, save the “Gator Glory” at the end.

Colorblaze REDiculous

In the above photo, you’ll see a little yellowish coleus peeking out from the main plant.  That’s one that I somehow successfully overwintered.  This doesn’t happen often, even in Florida.  Being native to tropical and subtropical climes, your coleus is almost certainly going to be an annual.  It’ll die once temperatures get into the forties.  Unless you’re a south Florida, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico Glib, be prepared to plant these every spring and enjoy just for a summer.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to live in the south to enjoy this plant.

Coleus was a popular bedding plant during the Victorian era, then fell out of favor, and is now making a comeback due, in no small part, to its versatility.  It grows in the ground just as easily as in a pot.  I put mine in pots primarily because I can move them around to change the eye-attracting colorful parts of my yard and walkways.  Potting the plants also gives me more control over sun exposure, moisture levels, and soil nutrients.

La Rambla

Getting these into your garden, porch, or walkway is simple.  Simply buy a pot (preferably with pre-drilled drainage holes in the bottom), some potting soil, and your coleus from your local nursery or big-box home improvement garden center.  Put the potting soil in the pot, place the coleus in a hole in the soil, and water it immediately thereafter.  Coleus in the wild are shade lovers, but most recent varietals are tolerant of full sun.  I try to put mine where they’ll get morning sun and mottled sunlight or afternoon shade.  Water a couple of times per week, depending on local conditions and sun exposure.  That’s it.

 

Coleosaurus

 

Coleus will typically reach a height of about two feet, with a similar diameter.  After a few months of growth, you might notice a vertical stem with small blue or purple flowers.  Pinch this off where the stem joins the rest of the plant to encourage fuller growth of the leaves.

Gator Glory

This is an example of a fully-grown plant.  The above coleus was my pride and joy two summers ago. It trailed down from the top of its pot nearly to the ground, spanning three feet from top to bottom and was nearly as wide.  It got morning sun and was protected from the midday heat by the two oaks that it was under.

Main Street River Walk

So there you have it: a colorful addition to your home that will give you something nice to look at all summer and requires only the bare minimum of care.  Coleus will thrive as soon as soil temperatures get above 60F.  If curious, you can check your plant hardiness zone here.  Warm days are just around the corner — get to planting!