 |
Solenostemon scutellarioides |
 |
| | 'Palisandra' |
| Synonym(s) |
Coleus blumei |
| Common name |
coleus |
| Family |
lamiaceae |
| Life cycle |
tender perennial |
| Flowers |
blue (summer) |
| Size |
2' |
| Light |
part shade |
| Cultural notes |
fertile soil (not too dry) |
From seed  |
germinate at room temperature, or slightly above, with exposure to light
Flowers first year from seed sown indoors early.
detailed seed-starting info below
|
Through the years, we've grown quite a number of coleus varieties – all of them distinguished by colorful leaves that add drama or a flash of light to shady places in the garden. Several seasons, we grew the marvellous 'Palisandra', which has wonderful dark-purple large velvety leaves. Another seed-grown variety came from a 'Rainbow Mix' packet. The last one we grew in Pennsylvania was 'Sedona' from the ColorBlaze series, which showed itself off nicely in a hypertufa container on our patio, growing in at least half-day sun. Now that we're in Houston, we've picked up a few unnamed varieties to stick in the rare shady strips our garden has to offer. It may actually be possible, with some purposeful protection during the coldest nights, to overwinter our favorite specimens around here.
|
| | Grown from 'Rainbow mix' |
| 
| | ColorBlaze 'Sedona' |
|
| | Cool contrast and irregular leaf shape on this variety from a Houston-area nursery |
| 
| | and a more conventionally colored one |
|
We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Solenostemon scutellarioides
- Seed from Park '02. Gel-cup under light 70F (100%G, starting 4d)
- Same seed as above. Baggy 70F with light (100%G, 4d)
- Same seed as above. Baggy 70F with light (33%G, 6-9d)
- Seed from '04 garden. Baggy 70F with light (80%G, 5-11d)
- Seed for 'Rainbow mix' from PT'07. Baggy 75F with light (89%G, 6-8d)
Not sure if this comes true from open-pollinated seeds. Young plants are very frost-tender - don't put out until all danger of frost is over.
I welcome comments about my web pages; feel free to use the form below to
leave feedback about this particular page. For the benefit of other visitors
to these pages, I will list any relevant comments you leave, and if
appropriate, I will update my page to correct mis-information. Faced with an
ever-increasing onslaught of spam, I'm forced to discard any comments including
html markups. Please submit your comment as plain text. If you have a
comment about the website as a whole, please leave it in my
guestbook. If you
have a question that needs a personal response, please
e-mail me.
|