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Coleus Add Pizzazz to Hanging
Baskets and Planters
Coleus in hanging baskets and planters make for a great show. This
article below gives some good information on growing coleus.
I never intended to grow coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides, USDA
Hardiness Zone 11). In fact, when a friend gave me my first three
plants, I tried not to like them. I was already overwintering far too
many tender tropicals. Who could be bothered with another one as
frivolous as coleus?
Many years and several hundred seedlings, sports, and cultivars later, I
admit that the cold shoulder I tried to give coleus was a hoax. In
truth, it was love at first sight. What’s not to love about a genus that
produces colors from gentle butter yellow to shocking magenta, with
leaves that range in shape from simple ovals to frilly
triangles—especially when coleus plants are so easy to grow that each
pot should bear the slogan, “Just add water”? In fact, with the wide
range of selections available, the most difficult part of growing coleus
is choosing one.
To help simplify matters, I divide coleus into three groups:
low-growing, trailing types (ideal for hanging baskets); midsize
selections; and tall plants that really need room to strut their stuff.
While the size of coleus can vary depending on soil fertility, their
habits work well in borders or containers. I like to use them as color
echoes or as contrasts to perennials, choosing just the right shade to
blend with a daylily’s bloom or to accent the dramatic golden edge of an
ornamental grass. By selecting from the three different categories, I
can find the right coleus plants to balance my container designs.
Sometimes I plant pots with nothing but coleus, trusting their
contrasting textures and colors to provide plenty of excitement in
hanging baskets, hanging planters, garden planters, as a potted plant
indoors or when used in the garden.
Trailers soften edges
Trailing coleus tend to have leaves that are only an inch long, and the
plants typically grow 12 to 18 inches tall. They are custom-made for
using in containers or for softening the front edge of a border. As
basic as a black dress, 15-inch-tall ‘Red Trailing Queen’ bedecks
herself from head to toe—or, rather, from leaf to stem—in regal
burgundy. Her simple oval leaf shape and straightforward color
complement most shades, except blue and true purple. The subtle strength
of the coleus’s burgundy foliage strikes a balance with soft pinks or
pale yellows as well as bright fuchsias or bold oranges.
‘Meandering Linda’, a close cousin of ‘Red Trailing Queen’, grows 16
inches tall and bears crinkly, chocolate-purple leaves banded in rich
raspberry-pink, with touches of cream along the edges. It makes a
scrumptious duo with anything silver, especially the elegant
silver-white foliage of dusty miller (Centaurea cineraria ‘Colchester
White’, Zones 7–11). ‘Meandering Linda’ appears to be a sport of ‘Red
Trailing Queen’, and if planted in less than half-day sun, it sometimes
reverts to its plain burgundy form. The 14-inch-tall cultivar
‘Trailing Bleeding Heart’ also appears to descend from the ‘Queen’. Its
hot fuchsia-pink leaves are ringed with purple and a band of lime green.
It makes a good match for my favorite pink yarrow, Achillea millefolium
‘Montrose Rose’ (Zones 3–9). Bleeding Heart looks stunning on its own or
when used in a mixed planting in a hanging basket.
‘Trailing Salamander’, which grows 14 inches tall, offers oval,
near-black leaves edged in bright lime. Its neutral color scheme makes
it a choice filler for containers. Like ‘Red Trailing Queen’, it looks
good with almost anything. My favorite match is with black-and-green
‘Illustris’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta ‘Illustris’, Zones 7–11).
If a red coleus suits your color scheme, you have to try ‘Ruby Ruffles’,
whose frilly, fingery foliage bears ruby centers and chartreuse edges, a
color scheme many daylilies echo. Planting 12-inch-tall ‘Ruby Ruffles’
with gold-variegated pigeonberry (Duranta erecta ‘Golden Edge’, Zones
9–11) and deep red Texas sage (Salvia coccinea ‘Spanish Dancer’, Zones
9–11) also makes for a winning tropical combo.
Don’t be fooled by the textural delicacy of trailing coleus. Except for
the relatively compact ‘Ruby Ruffles’, these are vigorous plants that
spread 2 feet or more in a growing season and like to weave through
their neighbors. Keep them away from dainty, low-growing treasures such
as easily smothered mats of perennial pinks (Dianthus spp. and cvs.,
Zones 3–10), but don’t be afraid to combine them with larger annuals,
perennials, and shrubs. Any trailing coleus also makes a great
warm-season ground cover. For quick coverage, plant them 12 inches
apart.
These midsize coleus are good for filling gaps
Midsize coleus, 18 to 25 inches in height, are frequently several inches
wider than they are tall, and they have short internodes, which makes
for bushy, dense-looking plants. Unlike trailers, these coleus tend to
keep to themselves, forming tight mounds of foliage – so are best used
as a centre piece in a hanging basket or planter with trailing plants
around them.
The simple, indigo-purple leaves of ‘Dark Star’ draw all eyes to its
inky depths. Create a starkly dramatic composition by contrasting its
color-saturated foliage with white flowers or silver foliage. I also
like to use the 20-inch-tall ‘Dark Star’ to emphasize the “blueness” of
certain blossoms, such as wild petunias (Ruellia brittoniana and cvs.,
Zones 7–10) or blue-violet Verbena x hybrida ‘Blue Princess’ (Zones
7–11).
‘Amazon’ is as different from ‘Dark Star’ as night is from day. Its
ruffly chartreuse leaves glow like fireflies after dusk. It is, without
a doubt, the best coleus of this shade that I have ever grown. Even in
the scorching midsummer sun, ‘Amazon’ neither burns nor develops the
russet streaks common in other chartreuse coleus. Strong stems and a
full look make 24-inch-tall ‘Amazon’ a Top 10 plant, one I love to
combine with green-and-gold variegated shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’,
Zones 8–11). ‘Swallowtail’ puts on a fantastic display of texture and
color. Its rippled and deeply scalloped leaves are a remarkable lemon
yellow, with a lettuce-green-and-wine-red river flowing through the
center of each one. Four-foot-tall Salvia vanhouttei (Zones 10–11) looks
magnificent dangling its burgundy blossoms over 24-inch-tall
‘Swallowtail’.
Having trialed hundreds of new coleus seedlings, I can safely say that
‘Little Twister’ is one of my best finds. I love its crimped, fingery
leaves that emerge inky purple, then gradually change to predominantly
yellow with lime edges and purple veins. Its 20-inch-long, deep purple
stems and compact growth make ‘Little Twister’ a fabulous component of
mixed containers.
If too many of your favorite flowering plants have plain, rounded
leaves, contrast their simple texture with the visual equivalent of a
garden explosion: 25-inch-tall ‘New Hurricane’. Picture its fiery,
red-and-yellow foliage, as intricately cut as paper snowflakes, mingling
with mounds of black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp. and cvs., Zones 3–11),
simmering next to ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, Zones
3–11), or backed by mounds of burgundy fountain grass (Pennisetum
setaceum ‘Rubrum’, Zones 8–11).
‘Fishnet Stockings’, ‘Amazon’, and ‘Ruby Ruffles’ bring chartreuse to
the forefront.
'Dark Star'
'Amazon'
‘Little Twister’
'Swallowtail'
‘New Hurricane’
Tall, upright coleus are best as back drops
Lofty coleus plants that reach more than 25 inches in height make up my
third category. These tend to be taller than they are wide and have an
ambitiously upright look. The biggest, most eye-catching coleus I have
ever grown is 32-inch-tall ‘Mariposa’. Its huge, 6- to 8-inch-long
leaves drape downward, allowing a clear view of their magnificent
crimson-pink color. A single plant makes an imposing specimen, which I
like to grow with the marbled pink-and-cream leaves of snowbush (Breynia
disticha ‘Roseopicta’, Zones 9–11) and variegated sweet potato vine
(Ipomoea batatas ‘Pink Frost’, Zone 11).
For a different shade of pink, consider ‘Candy Store’, whose leaves bear
blocks of raspberry-pink, sour apple, grape, and cream soda. I love its
extravagant color patterns, and 28-inch-tall ‘Candy Store’ also has
near-perfect form: a lovely, rounded shape and short internodes that
make for strong stems thick with foliage. In containers, the black
cherry blossoms of one of my favorite vines, Allamanda ‘Cherries
Jubilee’ (Zones 10–11), look wonderful combined with ‘Candy Store’. In
the perennial border, regal lily (Lilium regale, Zones 4–7) is a great
companion.
At a glance, you might call 26-inch-tall ‘Vulcan’ simply red, but if you
look closely, you’ll see that its colors are far more complex: crimson
with an undercurrent of reddish rose, enhanced by brushes of black that
heighten the richness of its crimped, puckered leaves. A defining edge
of lemon yellow causes the leaves to stand out from one another instead
of blurring into a solid mass of color. ‘Vulcan’ makes such a dramatic
statement that a single plant can carry a scene for the entire season.
Use it to brighten a dull stretch of spring-blooming plants when the
main show is over, or combine ‘Vulcan’ with asters (Aster spp. and cvs.,
Zones 4–8) and mums (Chrysanthemum cvs., Zones 4–9) that have little to
say until late summer.
‘Orange King’ illustrates one of the loveliest characteristics of
coleus, their ability to glow like stained glass when struck by
sunlight. On a dull day, I’d describe ‘Orange King’ as parchment gold,
not orange. Add sunshine, though, and miraculously the entire plant
takes on a warm, orange glow. I like growing 26-inch-tall ‘Orange King’
with 4-foot-tall Salvia splendens ‘Paul’ (Zones 10–11), whose
wine-purple flowers and bracts match the coleus’s dark stems and leaf
undersides.
While it’s not unusual for a coleus to have leaf veins etched in dark
ink, I have never seen one with such vivid lime green leaves and strong
veining as ‘Fishnet Stockings’. Inky black lines extend throughout the
foliage, tracing the pattern of each and every vein. The leaves are
neatly notched along the edges, which are also outlined in black. My
favorite combo? Take ‘Trailing Salamander’ coleus and ‘Illustris’
elephant ear, add 28-inch-tall ‘Fishnet Stockings’, and you have a
dynamite black-green trio. In fact, anywhere you need to spice things
up, ‘Fishnet Stockings’ is a sure bet.
It’s hard not to love coleus—believe me, I’ve tried. Fast-growing and
full of color from spring planting to fall frost, these plants perform
like fireworks on the Fourth of July, from Milwaukee to Miami to Malibu.
It’s no wonder they’ve been popular plants in American gardens since the
1850s. Judging by the new seedlings I’ve been finding, I predict they’ll
continue to be popular for many years to come.
Coleus
Origins: Coleus are native to Southeast Asia. There are hundreds
of cultivars available, in a wide range of colors, sizes, and leaf
shapes.
Conditions: Coleus are tender tropicals that are generally grown
as annuals because they are hardy only in USDA Hardiness Zone 11. They
like warm soils with decent drainage. They are not happy in overly dry
conditions. Coleus will grow in full sun to medium shade, but their
colors are most vivid in full sun. Half-day sun produces softer colors
that are still very appealing.
Fertility: Coleus heights can vary, sometimes widely, depending
on the soil-fertility level or the amount of fertilizer being applied.
Because coleus colors are richest when plants are not overfed, I
recommend maintaining a moderate level of nutrients.
Propagation: Coleus are easy to grow from cuttings. Wait to put
plants outdoors until spring nights remain above 50°F. I give midsize
plants and trailing types 18 inches of space. Larger coleus get 2 feet
if I can spare it; if not, I confine them to the available area with
judicious pruning.
Maintenance: Pinch stem tips if you want to control height and
increase bushiness. Remove flower shoots as they appear unless you want
to collect seed. To over-winter coleus, root stem cuttings before autumn
nights drop below 50°F and keep cuttings in a sunny window at
temperatures above 60°F all winter.
Pests and Diseases: Coleus pests and diseases are rare in my
garden, but I sometimes find mealy bugs, spider mites, or aphids on
over-wintered plants.
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