Last fall I potted up cuttings from all of my coleus. I have been keeping them under lights in my basement. Every week I check them for pests and pinch out tips. Unfortunately I brought some in with mealybugs and I spray any I see with Sun oil. I have finally gotten them under control.
My plan is to take cuttings from the plants in mid March. I will discard the old woody stalks I have over wintered. I like to root coleus cuttings in water for a week or until the roots are 1/2 - 1" long and then put them in small pots with potting soil. Since coleus like it warm like tomatoes I always tend to start my cuttings too soon. I can usually start putting them outside by the first week of May. I have about 20 varieties and several pots of each one take up considerable space under lights if I have to keep them too long.

Awesome! You can plant the mama plants in the ground, as well as cuttings.

Still a little early in the season but I was a little disappointed after visiting 4 stores on Saturday that I only found 2 Coleus. The 6-packs of Wizard/rainbow looked terrible. Usually I'll grab one of those if there are some pink ones in the mix and not worry about saving those but that day they were not worth buying. I need to bulk up on Coleus again. Drought a couple summers ago took out all of my Coleus and there was nothing left to save over winter. They are not easy to find around here. I miss Bakers Acres!!

How is it going, Eber? I'll be in FL again this coming Saturday to look for Coleus, uh, I mean pick up the glasses I ordered... OK, both things!

So happy I found 'Burgundy Wedding Train' again!


'Wildfire Ignition', a small but appreciated start, next to Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'.


'La Rambla'

Tiffany, thanks for jogging my brain about coleus. l have an odd space to plant that gets partial sun then most shade. I've trying to think of what to plant there and I think coleus would work. The soil needs a little help but I have some mushroom compost to use and that should do the trick. Now to go on a coleus hunt.

It's Sammy's discussion but I'm glad you enjoyed my comments too. : + )

That sounds like a great spot for Coleus, IMHO, but my opinion is that every spot is a good one for Coleus. I hope you find something you love!

BTW, I just noticed I had my comments flipped on 2 pics above. Going to edit.

Found another cutie!!

What's going on with Coleus out there over the past few weeks?

I hope things are going well for Eber. How are things going with others' Coleus?

This was pretty puny looking when I got it about 6 weeks ago but it is really filling out!

Tiffany, your Alabama Sunset looks nice and full already.
I haven't placed most of my coleus yet and some that overwintered are still looking a little ratty.
I did pick up these three different orange types. All these pictures are from May. I will have to see tomorrow how they compare.





Bonnie's Gold and Alternanthera


Some other coleus and plectranthus

Those are great! LOVe the chartreuse & purple together!!

In the last pic, does the tall frilly one in the back have a tag? It looks familiar.

That's Peter's Wonder.

Thank you! I can't remember which I had that looked similar but that doesn't sound familiar at all, it was something else.

Was it possibly Amora you were thinking of? That was another one with cream coloring that I used to like to get but I don't see it anymore.

I think it was pink ruffles or red ruffles.

Yeah I noticed pink ruffles looks a lot like that one.

I have decided that keeping coleus over winter is not worth the effort. I had about twenty varieties I kept over winter and have added several more with finds from different nurseries this spring and summer. I have used coleus in a lot of my containers this year and they are nice. No one looks and says 'wow, you have more than twenty varieties of coleus.' I have had fun combining them. Here are pictures of some of my containers.

Wonderful containers, Sammy!
I know what you mean about overwintering. I still end up buying new plants, but I am disappointed when a favorite disappears from commerce. Many of my coleus die overwinter since I don't have ideal indoor conditions, so it is a lot of work and space for little return.

Deer resistant coleus. Every year I fill a strawberry jar with impatiens and when they look nice the deer eat them. This year I decided to plant some coleus with impatiens in hopes that it would deter the deer. Just when the impatiens were blooming and as large as the coleus the deer carefully ate the impatiens but left the coleus. Next year I will only plant coleus in the jar.