Growing and Propagating Coleus

Coleus "Trusty Rusty"

Coleus are easy to grow and care for. They are not hardy above zone 11 but are so easy to overwinter that it is worth having these beautiful plants as part of your landscape or as container plants.

Coleus are grown mostly for their leaves and will get leggy if allowed to bloom. The newer varieties such as Trusty Rusty above and  Tricolor at left rarely bloom or maybe it's because I keep pinching mine back to make them fuller that they don't bloom. All plants can have color variation depending on maturity, fertilizer, temperature and light. For the most part, coleus with red and orange leaves tolerate all day full sun. Too much sun can cause purple-black ones to fade all over or they may scald (have pale burn spots on leaves). And for any color, too much shade can keep all the colors from coming out. I have some in shade and some in part sun and I haven't noticed too much difference in leaf color. See how pretty Coleus are with these Geraniums in a large pot.

 

 

 

Propagating Coleus is easy! I root mine in water but you can also stick cuttings dipped in rooting hormone in a mix of sand and perlite and they root fairly quickly. Add mist and they will root even faster. I prefer rooting cuttings in water because it takes much less room and trouble. I should call this blog The Lazy Gardener! Here is a picture of Coleus that have been in water for about 3 weeks. See all the roots. They are ready to pot up. If you are growing Coleus in water to winter over, I do this often - no soil just water in a sunny window - trim the roots if they get long and stringy. They will tend to rot and ruin your plants. I add a tiny amount of liquid fertilizer to the water if I am keeping them in water over winter. 

 

So don't let the fact that Coleus are tropical and they do not flower keep you from trying this easy care plant. They are fun and easy and beautiful!

 

 



What's Blooming Now

Walking around the yard yesterday I noticed quite a few things are still blooming. Here on Long Island, the night temperatures are hovering around the upper 40s and the day temperatures are in the low 60s. Definitely feels like fall outside!

The Coleus is starting to lose its bottom leaves, but this variety is holding on to the upper part of the stem very nicely. I love the rich brown in the middle of the green leaf.

Amazingly these Impatiens still look great. The leaves are starting to yellow, but they continue to flower and make me smile.

The red Begonias look completely at home in the fall landscape. The red flowers with the reddish-brown stem and darker leaves look appropriate for this time of year.

I have a natural wooded area along the south side of the house. It is very pretty this time of year with the Goldenrod and wild Aster flowers blooming.

In the flower box on the front porch, I recently planted purple Ornamental Kale and some sweet orange colored Violas. I love the contrasting colors.

The yellow Lantana is still blooming nicely in the hanging container on the front porch. It's doing amazingly well considering its not getting full sun anymore.

I've freshened up the front containers with fall plants such as Mums, Pansy and Ornamental Peppers. This container also shows the lime-green Coleus and the Euphorbia "Diamond Frost"still doing well.

 These Geraniums were the best thing I bought this year. The vibrant pink with the lush green leaves were gorgeous no matter where I moved this container. And they are still looking great in mid-October!

 The New Guinea Impatiens didn't really do much this year. Maybe they didn't get enough sun. However, I'm enjoying their lush foliage for now. Especially when everything else is dropping their leaves.

What's Blooming: June

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month.

All my containers are starting to bloom and fill in. The house faces east and therefore, the front gets the most sun in the morning and midday. Here is a look at what the front porch area looks like:

A close up on the flower boxes and containers:

The main box is planted with impatiens and geraniums (both from cuttings), morning glories, white bacopa, purple saliva, black eyed susan, yellow zinnia and sweet william.

Below the box are two pots containing flat leaf parsley and columbine seedlings. To the right of the box are perennial daisies just starting to bloom and beneath that is the geranium plant I overwintered and took cuttings from this spring. It has just started to bloom and produce new growth.

The left box is filled with pansies (still holding on!), impatiens and geraniums, pink pentas, purple saliva, lobelia, morning glory vines, lychnis and white salvia.

The middle box is filled with white Angelonia augustifolia, pink verbena, campanula, pansy, purple salvia and a wild flower seed mix (still not sure what will bloom from these seeds). A small pot of basil I grew from seeds sits below the flower box.

 On the railing, I filled this box with small annual dahlias and yellow chiffon superbells.

I placed a strawberry pot filled with pansies, mint and strawberries (both of which came back on their own this year) on top of a tree trunk log for some height.

 

The rose bush is blooming nicely (a Valentine's gift from my honey two years ago). String beans and sweat peas are climbing vigorously on the teepee - I spotted my first sweet pea flower today! Sunflowers are growing in the container on the steps.

In April, I posted about my new Raspberry shrub. I honestly didn't know if it would be happy in a container, but so far it has been doing great. My kids and I even ate a few berries from it today!

Here's what's going on in the backyard, which gets part shade/dappled sun only in the afternoon:

Double impatiens, coleus, white impatiens and lobelia

 

This box still has yet to fill in, but when it does, the impatiens and lobelia together will look nice I think. 

 Two more impatiens created by cuttings this year, planted here with more lobelia

My newest addition this year - 6 large containers filled with 2 Ostrich ferns, 1 Cinnamon fern and 2 different varieties of hosta. I'm hoping the ferns will grow tall and act as a screen from the park path behind my house.

Beneath the maple tree, I have 3 containers each filled with Caladium. Impatiens fill in the outside boxes, while Lysimachia fills in the middle one. And how cute is my stone owl?!

Along the back fence, under the maple tree, I placed a long flower box and filled it with lime colored coleus and pink begonias. It adds a little bit of color to a very shady spot. I transplanted the ivy along the ground last fall and am happy to see new growth on it this year.

And that's it. By next month, I'm hoping the Morning Glory vines will have reached new heights, the string beans will be full of beans and the ferns grown taller. Be sure to come back and check in with me!

Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Spring Flower & Garden Show

Every year, Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, NY transforms their showroom to a gorgeous display of landscape plants and flowers right as old man winter is starting to release his grip. The annual Spring Flower and Garden show is the largest and most popular flower show on Long Island. For many local gardeners, this flower show is the official beginning of spring. 

Each year has a different theme and to be honest, I think some have been better than others. This year's theme is "Garden for Life: Discover Health and Wellness through the Joy of Gardening"  - how gardening can enhance your life, your neighborhood and the planet. I thought it was fantastic. 

There were four different garden displays: the Relaxation Garden, the Easy Garden, the Earth Friendly Garden and the Learning Garden.

The Relaxation Garden was like a tropical oasis in your own backyard:

Filled with Palms, Bromeliads, Croton, Gardenias, Orchids and other tropical plants, it was soothing just to look at it. An outdoor shower was on one end and a naturalistic seating area with a chiminea on the other. 

On the other side of the shower was a delightful and beautifully decorated fish pond, complete with water lillies, orchids and ferns:

I found myself imagining taking a rest on this love seat, breathing in the sweet scent of the nearby Heliotrope, and looking up at the magical colors of the stained class "ceiling" above:

The Easy Garden focused on planting the right plant in the right spot to make gardening easy for anyone. One half of the display showcased plants that enjoy and brighten up the shade:

Hostas, Coleus, Begonias, Ferns, Hellebores and Hydrangeas were among the many different colors and textures that enjoy a shady spot. 

The other half of the Easy Garden displayed plants that enjoy bright, sunny spots in your yard:

Knockout Roses, Salvia, Viburnum, Forsythia and Snapdragons were among some of the many plants displayed that enjoy a more sunny location.

The Earth Friendly Garden featured clever and innovative recycling ideas. Using sneakers as planters, an old dresser as a potting station and sunken tires as stepping stones, it enforced the idea that recycling and repurposing items into the garden can be fun and whimsical as well as economical.

My favorite was the artistic piece above the shed. At first I thought it was a clock, but then on closer inspection, I realized it was created using various colored gardening gloves with a bird house in the center. 

The Learning Garden was full of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables you can grow in your own backyard. The aim for this garden was to inspire families to get out into their gardens and plant their own food together. 

All in all, I thought it was a great show. I loved the theme and loved to see how different each of the gardens were. They provided a great many ideas, but even more so, it was a wonderful place to spend a few hours and daydream while the weather is still chilly outside.

Hicks Nurseries can be found at:
100 Jericho Turnpike, Westbury, NY 11590
www.hicksnurseries.com

The flower show is from March 7-23. Check it out!

Street Plantings in NYC

New York City is nicknamed the "Concrete Jungle" and with good reason! It's a fascinating place bustling with activity. People, buses, cars, buildings, street vendors, sidewalk dining, eclectic shops. All part of what makes NYC great. 

In June, I happened to be in the city for the day and wandered past this beautiful planting "box" along the sidewalk at the base of the tree. I was so impressed by the variety of plants in such a small space that made it unique. So often, you see street plantings will the basic Imatiens, Begonias or Liriope. And while these are great and serve its purpose, its always a welcome surprise to find something different. 

This "box" had a wrought iron cage around it to act as protection and was filled with various types of Coleus, Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian Sheild), Imperata Cylindrica (Blood Grass), Nicotiana, Lantana, Pentas lanceolata (Star Cluster). Whoever put this together, I say "Nice Job!"

Updated Flower Box Photos

Here are some updated photos of my flower boxes. These photos were taken mid-June - one month after planting. Everything is in full bloom except the vines and the Digitalis has already bloomed. 

And here are the updated containers in the backyard containing Coleus, Caladium and Impatiens:

FLOWERS FOR WINTER BLOOMS

Do you get blue during the gray winter days like I do? One thing that cheers me up is having blooming house plants to look at. I even have a few winter bloomers outside too. 

baby African Violets

Pictured here are a few of my favorite house plants that bloom merrily in my windows all winter. Most are easy to care for. Some of these are actually growing in water and I will plant them in pots and move them outside when spring comes .

The stars of my window sill are the African Violets. I have an east facing window in the kitchen and
violets are very happy there. I have so many of them that they won't all fit in the window so I put some in our sunny studio window and switch them out as they bloom. Violets are so easy to propagate by putting a stem (leaf not bloom) into water and waiting - a baby plant will form on the bottom. Pot it up when it has several tiny leaves. The ones above are ready to pot.

Blue African Violet

Big Blue Violet

Tradescantia pallida (Purple Queen)

Some of my favorite outside plants are happy growing in water in the house. I root them over winter and plant them back outside when the weather warms. The Purple Queen above and the Coleus below are two of those. Coleus don't usually bloom inside but I love their colorful leaves.

Colus "Inky Fingers"

Rex Begonia 

This big Rex Begonia has small pink flowers but the leaves are it's crowing glory! They are a good sin inches across.


Sedum are great in the house, they don't care if you water them or not. Give them a bright window and they will be happy. These also stay outside in summer - a sunny spot. 

Sedum and Aloe plant

These are a few of the plants I have inside. I also winter over hanging baskets of Airplane plants and orchids (that are not blooming right now) in the studio and a few other things too. What are your favorite house plants?