This plant gives you color all summer long without producing a single flower!
You don’t need flowers or even a sunny garden to get a ton of color if you grow coleus. You may have heard of these plants before but there are new varieties you haven’t seen before.
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Gardeners rely on flowers to bring color to containers, borders, and landscape beda, but coleus might make you reconsider everything because these will bring unbelievable color without producing a single bloom.
Coleus are not just for shade gardens
Experienced gardeners might have thought coleus could only grow well in shade, but breeders have introduced so many new varieties that there is truly a coleus for any garden. I visited Bayport Flower houses in Suffolk County, NY to show you some of the variety this amazing annual can give you.
Karl Auwaerter is one of the owners and third generation family operators of Bayport Flower Houses, Inc. in Bayport, New York and took me on a tour of their coleus inventory. Bayport Flower Houses is a family business that has been operating since 1932.
During my visit there were about a dozen different types of coleus including classic varieties and new varieties bred for improved sun tolerance and exciting leaf shapes and colors.
Some Coleus grow tall, others creep and crawl
Coleus are such a diverse annual. There are a few tall growing varieties with huge leaves that would be a great centerpiece for your containers, however other coleus have small leaves and work best as a ground cover or at the edge of a container where it can trail down.
Many coleus are “in between” and will meander around other plants in your garden to fill any gaps with plenty of color.
Tall growing coleus varieties work almost like tropical shrubs in the garden. Cultivars such as Dipped in Wine’ develop strong upright growth with deep burgundy foliage edged in green. Below is a photo of Coleus "Burgandy Wedding Train"
Coleus care tips
These are easy annuals to grow, but there are a few things to keep in mind if you want to get the most out of your plants.
Pinch the blooms to encourage more healthy leaf growth. You can prune up to 2 sets of leaves off. Prune the stem back right above where you see new leaves emerging.
Plant in well-draining potting mix to prevent rotting and water daily. Coleus will wilt when they are drought stressed
Choose the right variety for you. All coleus will tolerate shade, but sun loving varieties will lose their color. Shade loving varieties will burn if they receive full afternoon sun.
With more than a thousand coleus to choose from, there's certainly a variety suitable for any garden. And an additional plus, they are easy to propagate! Just take a cutting from the stem and place the bottom 2" in a cup of water by a bright window indoors. You will have roots in 2 weeks.
