Plant of the Week –
Common Name: coleus
Botanical Name: solenostemon scutellarioides
This coleus hybrid [from the ColorBlaze series] has large leaves of burgundy red with lighter veins running nearly the entire length. The bright gold at the base of each leaf extends to the petiole. These new, bigger, sun loving varieties have revolutionized contanier gardening and the brilliant colours explode in sunny locations. Flower buds should be pinched off as soon as they develop. If a coleus plant is allowed to seed, it has completed its life cycle and will die.
Coleus are tender to frost and will need to be overwintered indoors in cold climates. It’s a neat idea to bring them indoors for a house plant over the winter to add a bit of colour and cheeriness to the long, dull winters.
Description – tender perennial/annual
Hardiness Zone – 10 and up
Exposure – full sun to full shade
Mature Height – 12″
Bloom Time – until first frost
Bloom Colour – foliage is burgundy and lime-green
Scent – none
image from Sunny Side Growers
Gardening in the Lines 
I didn’t know about pinching off the flowers before – I’ve always kept them in pot as an annual. Now I’ll dp that when I see them start to flower.
I also didn’t know about the flowering. I sowed some this spring and they are still so tiny! Hope they do well enough to be worth bringing indoors for winter. Thanks for another great Monday post!
One of my favourite plants 🙂
Oh! You have reminded me that I forgot to sow coleus this year.